The Tempest

Introduction

The following version of The Tempest is based on the text in the
authoritative 1914 Oxford Edition of Shakespeare's works, edited
by W. J. Craig. The text numbers the lines, including those with
stage directions such as "Enter" and "Exit." Annotations (notes
and definitions) appear in boldfaced type within the text.

Characters

Prospero:
Rightful Duke of Milan, Italy, and the main character. He had been
overthrown by his evil brother and, with his three-year-old
daughter, set adrift by his evil brother to die. But provisions
provided secretly by Prospero's friend Gonzalo enable him and his
daughter to reach a mysterious island. There, Prospero practices
magic and rules the island and its inhabitants for twelve years.
When a ship carrying his brother and other high officials of
Naples—including the king—sails a course near the island, Prospero
conjures a powerful tempest that blows the ship to his island.
Antonio: Prospero's brother. He illegally seized
Prospero's dukedom. After the tempest drives the ship carrying him
and Alonso, the King of Naples, to Prospero's island, Antonio
conspires against the king.
Miranda: Fifteen-year-old daughter of Prospero. She has
lived with her father on his island since she was three years old
and has never seen a man except for her father and the half-human
Caliban. The name Miranda is derived from the Latin word mirandus, meaning wonderful, strange, and
admired.
Alonso: King of Naples. He helped Antonio oust Prospero
as Duke of Milan. However, after arriving at Prospero's island, he
exhibits genuine remorse for his reprehensible treatment of
Prospero.
Sebastian: Brother of King Alonso. He conspires with
Antonio to kill Alonso.
Ferdinand: Son of King Alonso and heir to his father's
throne. He and Miranda fall in love when they first meet.
Gonzalo: Honest old friend and counselor of Prospero. He
provided Prospero and Miranda the means to survive at sea after
Prospero was overthrown by Antonio. Ariel:
Spirit of the air on the magical island. He serves Prospero. Ariel
first served a witch, Sycorax, who imprisoned him in a recess of a
pine tree after he refused to do her bidding. He remained there to
suffer great torment for twelve years, during which time Sycorax
died. Upon his arrival on the island, Prospero freed Ariel but
bound the sprite to his service. Ariel possesses protean power,
enabling him to alter his appearance instantly. He can also travel
to any part of the island, or the world, in a split-second.
Adrian, Francisco: Lords in Alonso's entourage.
Trinculo: Alonzo's court jester.
Stephano: Antonio's butler. Caliban: Savage half-man who
reluctantly serves Prospero. He is the son of a witch,
Sycorax. Caliban believes he is the rightful ruler of Prospero's
island, having inherited it from his mother. Sycorax: A dead witch who was the mother of
Caliban. She is referred to in flashbacks. Sycorax, who was at one
time a resident of Algeria in North Africa, was banished to the
island occupied by Prospero. Before Prospero and Miranda arrived
on the island, she imprisoned Ariel and other spirits.
Boatswain: Foul-mouthed senior crewman
overseeing the deck of Alonso's ship.
Iris, Ceres, Juno: Goddesses who take part in a masque,
or entertainment, in Act 4 to celebrate the marriage of Ferdinand
and Miranda. In classical mythology, Iris was a messenger goddess
and goddess of the rainbow. Ceres was the goddess of agriculture,
and Juno was the queen of the gods.
Nymphs and Reapers: Participants in the masque.
Master: The captain of Alonzo's ship.Mariners: Crewmen of Alonzo's ship.Island
Spirits: Sprites and goblins on Prospero's island.Claribel: Daughter of King Alonso. She marries
the King of Tunis. Tunis is a city in Tunisia, a country in North
Africa. Claribel has no speaking part in the play.King of Tunis: Claribel's husband. He has no
speaking part in the play.

Act 1, Scene 1

On a ship at sea. A
tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning heard. Enter a shipmaster and a
boatswain severally. MASTER:
Boatswain! BOATSWAIN: Here, master:
what cheer? [what's happening?] MASTER: Good, speak to the
mariners: fall to ’t yarely, or we run ourselves aground: bestir,
bestir. [Exit.
5[Good fellow,
speak to the crewmen. Do it quickly, before we run the ship
aground and wreck it. Get going, get going.] Enter mariners. BOATSWAIN: Heigh, my
hearts! cheerly, cheerly, my hearts! yare, yare! Take in the
topsail. Tend to the master’s whistle.—Blow, till thou burst thy
wind, if room enough! [Heigh . . .
enough: That's the way, men. (Heigh is an expression
of encouragement.) Quickly, quickly! Take in the topsail (square
upper sail). Heed what the master says. And you, raging storm,
blow till you can blow no more.] Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO,
FERDINAND, GONZALO, and others. ALONSO: Good boatswain,
have care. Where’s the master? Play the men.[Good . . .
men: Good boatswain, be careful about what you do. Where's the
master? These men should act like men and do what it takes to get
us out of this predicament.] BOATSWAIN: I pray now, keep
below.
10 Ant. Where is the master,
boson [boatswain]? BOATSWAIN: Do you not hear
him? You mar our labour, keep [to] your cabins: you do assist the storm. [You mar . . .
storm: You're getting in the way of our work. Go back to your
cabins. You're helping the storm to overwhelm us.] Gon. Nay, good, be patient.
[Be
patient, my good man.]BOATSWAIN: When the sea is.
Hence! What cares these roarers for the name of king? To cabin:
silence! trouble us not. [When the . . .
not: I'll calm down when the sea does. Get out of here. The
roaring storm doesn't care who you are or what your rank is. Go to
your cabin and stay there.] Gon. Good, yet remember
whom thou hast aboard.
15 BOATSWAIN: None that I more
love than myself. You are a counsellor [to the king]: if you can command these elements to
silence, and work the peace of the present, we will not hand a
rope more; use your authority: if you cannot, give thanks you have
lived so long, and make yourself ready in your cabin for the
mischance of the hour, if it so hap.—Cheerly, good hearts!—Out of
our way, I say. [Exit. [if you can
command . . . our way, I say: If you can command the storm to
cease, we will let go of our ropes and relax. If you cannot
command the storm to cease, go to your cabin and prepare yourself
for the worst, possibly death. Put your muscle into it, men. Now
get out of our way.] Gon. I have great comfort
from this fellow: methinks he hath no drowning mark upon him; his
complexion is perfect gallows. Stand fast, good Fate, to his
hanging! make the rope of his destiny our cable, for our own doth
little advantage! If he be not born to be hanged, our case is
miserable. [Exeunt. [I have great .
. . miserable: This fellow comforts me. I don't think he will
drown. Instead, he looks like someone who will die by hanging on
the gallows. Stand fast, Fate. Make it true that he will die by
hanging. If he is fated to die that way, we'll survive. But if he
is born to drown, we're in serious trouble.]

Re-enter Boatswain. BOATSWAIN: Down with the
topmast! yare! lower,
lower! Bring her to try with main-course. [A cry
within.] A plague upon this howling! they are louder than
the weather, or our office.— [Down with . .
. office: The boatswain tells crewmen to bring down the sail on
the topmast, then use only the lowest sail on the lowest mast.
While he is shouting instructions, he hears a loud cry from within
the ship. He curses the cry, saying it is louder than his shouts
to the men and louder even than the storm.] Re-enter SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO, and
GONZALO.
20

Yet again? what do you here?
Shall we give o’er, and drown? Have you a mind to
sink? [Yet . . .
sink: You again? Why are you on deck? Do you want us to give up
and drown? Would you like to sink?] Seb. A pox o’ your throat,
you bawling, blasphemous, incharitable dog! [A pox . . .
dog: To hell with you, you loudmouthed dog!] BOATSWAIN: Work you, then.
[Well,
if you're going to stay, you'll have to get to work like the
crewmen.] Ant. Hang, cur, hang! you
whoreson, insolent noisemaker, we are less afraid to be drowned
than thou art. [Hang . . .
art: Be hanged, you bastard dog and disrespectful noisemaker.
You're more afraid than we are.] Gon. I’ll warrant him for
drowning; though the ship were no stronger than a nutshell, and as
leaky as an unstanched wench.
25[I'll . . .
wench: I'll guarantee that the boatswain won't drown even if the
ship is no stronger than a nutshell and as leaky as a menstruating
woman.] BOATSWAIN: Lay her a-hold,
a-hold! Set her two courses; off to sea again; lay her off. [Lay her . . .
off: Steer her to the wind with two courses of sails and let go
back out to sea.] Enter Mariners, wet. Mar. All lost! to prayers,
to prayers! all lost! [Exeunt. BOATSWAIN: What, must our
mouths be cold? [What, is this the end for us? Let's have one
last drink.] Gon. The king and prince at
prayers! let us assist them,
30 For our case is as theirs.[let us . . .
theirs: Let's join them, since we're in just as much trouble as
they are.] Seb. I am out of
patience. Ant. We are merely cheated
of our lives by drunkards.— [We . . .
drunkards: It appears we've been cheated out of our lives by these
drunken sailors.] This wide-chapp’d rascal,—would
thou might’st lie drowning, The washing of ten
tides!
35[That
loudmouthed, booze-swilling boatswain—I hope he drowns in ten
tides washing over him.] Gon. He’ll be hang’d
yet, Though every drop of water swear
against it, And gape at wid’st to glut
him. [He'll be . . .
glut: He'll live to hang on the gallows, although every drop of
water swears against it and threatens to drown him.] [A confused noise within (inside the ship),—‘Mercy on us!’— ‘We split, we split!’—‘Farewell,
my wife and children!’—
40 ‘Farewell, brother!’—‘We split,
we split, we split!’—] Ant. Let’s all sink wi’ the
king. [Exit. Seb. Let’s take leave of
him. [Exit. Gon. Now would I give a
thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground; long heath,
brown furze [shrub], any
thing. The wills above [God's will] be done! but I would fain [rather] die a dry death.
[Exit.

Act 1,
Scene 2

The island. Before the cell of
PROSPERO. Enter PROSPERO and MIRANDA.

MIRANDA: If by your art, my
dearest father, you have Put the wild waters in this roar,
allay them. The sky, it seems, would pour
down stinking pitch,
5 But that the sea, mounting to th’
welkin’s cheek, Dashes the fire out. O! I have
suffer’d With those that I saw suffer: a
brave vessel, Who had, no doubt, some noble
creatures in her, Dash’d all to pieces. O! the cry
did knock
10[If by . . .
all to pieces: Dearest father, if you used your sorcery to put the
waters in this uproar, make the sea calm. The sky is as dark as
boiling pitch, which it would pour down if the sea's waves were
not so high that they are putting out the fire that boils the
pitch. O, I suffered when I saw that ship—which no doubt had noble
people on it—dashed all to pieces.] Against my very heart. Poor
souls, they perish’d. Had I been any god of power, I
would Have sunk the sea within the
earth, or e’er It should the good ship so have
swallow’d and The fraughting souls within
her.
15[I would have .
. . within her: I would have sunk the sea within the earth before
I would let it swallow that good ship and its freight of souls.]PROSPERO: Be
collected: [Calm down:] No more amazement. Tell your
piteous heart There’s no harm
done. MIRANDA: O, woe the
day! PROSPERO: No
harm.
20 I have done nothing but in care
of thee,— Of thee, my dear one! thee, my
daughter!—who Art ignorant of what thou art,
nought knowing Of whence I am: nor that I am
more better Than Prospero, master of a full
poor cell,
25 And thy no greater father.
[I have done .
. . greater father: I have done nothing to cause harm.
Everything I did was to benefit you, my dear daughter. You are
ignorant of who you are and know nothing of where I came from. You
don't know that I am actually a better person than I appear to be
as I occupy my poor little living quarters.] MIRANDA: More to
know Did never meddle with my
thoughts. [More to . . .
thoughts: I never thought about knowing more.] PROSPERO: ’Tis
time I should inform thee further.
Lend thy hand,
30 And pluck my magic garment from
me.—So: [Lays down his mantle [cloak]. Lie there, my art.—Wipe thou
thine eyes; have comfort. The direful spectacle of the
wrack [shipwreck], which touch’d The very virtue of compassion in
thee, I have with such provision in
mine art
35 So safely order’d, that there is
no soul— No, not so much perdition as an
hair, Betid [befell; happened] to any creature in the
vessel [I have . . .
vessel: I have used my sorcery in such a way that no harm came to
anyone on the ship—not even to a hair on anyone's head.] Which thou heard’st cry, which
thou saw’st sink. Sit down; For thou must now know
further.
40 MIRANDA: You have
often Begun to tell me what I am, but
stopp’d, And left me to a bootless
inquisition, Concluding, ‘Stay; not
yet.’ [You have . . .
yet': You have often begun to tell me about who we are. But then
you stopped your story. I made useless (bootless, line 43) efforts
to prod more information from you. But you always said I should be
patient and wait for the right time.] PROSPERO: The hour’s now
come,
45 The very minute bids thee ope [open] thine ear; Obey and be attentive. Canst thou
remember A time before we came unto this
cell? I do not think thou canst, for
then thou wast not Out three years
old.
50[not . . . old:
Not yet three years old.] MIRANDA: Certainly, sir, I
can. PROSPERO: By what? by any
other house or person? Of anything the image tell me,
that Hath kept with thy
remembrance. [By what? . . .
remembrance: What do you remember—a house or a person? Tell me
what picture you have in your mind.] MIRANDA: ’Tis far
off;
55 And rather like a dream than an
assurance That my remembrance warrants. Had
I not [And rather . .
. warrants: What's in my mind is more like a dream of what was
rather than any proof that what I remember is accurate.] Four or five women once that
tended me? PROSPERO: Thou hadst, and
more, Miranda. But how is it That this lives in thy mind? What
seest thou else
60 In the dark backward and abysm of
time? If thou remember’st aught ere thou cam’st here, How thou cam’st here, thou
may’st. [If thou . . .
may'st: If you remember anything that happened before you came
here, then maybe you also remember something about how you got
here.] MIRANDA: But that I do
not. PROSPERO: Twelve year since
[ago], Miranda, twelve year
since,
65 Thy father was the Duke of Milan
and A prince of
power. MIRANDA: Sir, are not you my
father? PROSPERO: Thy mother was a
piece of virtue, and She said thou wast my daughter;
and thy father
70 Was Duke of Milan, and his only
heir A princess,—no worse issued.[Thy mother . .
. issued: Your virtuous mother said you were my daughter. I was
the Duke of Milan at the time, and my only heir was you, a
princess.] MIRANDA: O, the
heavens! What foul play had we that we
came from thence? Or blessed was ’t we
did?
75[What foul . .
. we did: What foul play took us from our home and put us here? Or
was it a blessing that brought us here?] PROSPERO: Both, both, my
girl: By foul play, as thou say’st,
were we heav’d thence; But blessedly holp
hither. [By foul . . .
hither: It was foul play that drove us from our home. But it was a
blessing that helped us to this island, to this safe haven.] MIRANDA: O! my heart
bleeds To think o’ the teen [sadness] that I have turn’d you
to,
80 Which is from my remembrance.
Please you, further [continue the story]. PROSPERO: My brother and
thy uncle, call’d Antonio,— I pray thee, mark me,—that a
brother should Be so perfidious!—he whom next
thyself, Of all the world I lov’d, and to
him put
85 The manage of my state; as at
that time, Through all the signiories [domains; states;
lands of rulers] it was
the first, And Prospero the prime duke;
being so reputed In dignity, and for the liberal
arts, [being so . . .
liberal arts: I was well known for my dignity and learning] Without a parallel: those being
all my study,
90 The government I cast upon my
brother, And to my state grew stranger,
being transported And rapt in secret studies. Thy
false uncle— [those being .
. . studies: I decided to devote my all time to my studies and
research, allowing my brother to run the government. Consequently,
I knew less and less about what was going on in everyday
government affairs, so wrapped up was I in my secret studies.] Dost thou attend [listen to] me? MIRANDA: Sir, most
heedfully.
95 PROSPERO: Being once
perfected how to grant suits, How to deny them, who t’advance,
and who To trash for over-topping; new
created The creatures that were mine, I
say, or chang’d ’em, Or else new form’d ’em: having
both the key
100 Of officer and office, set all
hearts i’ the state To what tune pleas’d his ear;
that now he was The ivy which had hid my princely
trunk, And suck’d my verdure out on
’t.—Thou attend’st not. [Being once . .
. attend'st not: After he perfected the way to grant or deny
requests, give promotions, and put a rein on the those who
overstep their bounds, he shaped all the government officials and
procedures to his will. Then he saw to it that he overshadowed me.
Are you listening to me?] MIRANDA: O, good sir! I
do.
105 PROSPERO: I pray thee, mark
me. I, thus neglecting worldly ends,
all dedicated To closeness and the bettering of
my mind With that, which, but by being so
retir’d, O’erpriz’d all popular rate, in
my false brother
110 Awak’d an evil nature; and my
trust, Like a good parent, did beget of
him A falsehood in its contrary as
great As my trust was; which had,
indeed no limit, A confidence sans [without] bound. He being thus
lorded,
115[I, thus
neglecting . . . sans bound: I thus neglected the everyday duties
of running a government in favor of shutting myself in and
improving my mind with intellectual pursuits more valuable than
people think. But by doing so, I awakened evil thoughts in my
brother, Antonio. You see, I had placed complete trust in him.
Then he took advantage of my boundless trust.] Not only with what my revenue
yielded, But what my power might else
exact,—like one, Who having, into truth, by
telling of it, Made such a sinner of his
memory, To credit his own lie,—he did
believe
120 He was indeed the duke; out o’
the substitution, And executing th’ outward face of
royalty, With all prerogative:—Hence his
ambition growing,— [Not only . . .
prerogative: After realizing that he controlled government power
and money, he began to think that he was the true ruler of my
dukedom. He no longer acted as a stand-in for me but instead acted
as if he were the duke—and assumed all the rights and powers of a
duke.] Dost thou hear?
MIRANDA: Your tale, sir,
would cure deafness.
125 PROSPERO: To have no screen
between this part he play’d And him he play’d it for, he
needs will be Absolute Milan. Me, poor man,—my
library Was dukedom large enough: of
temporal royalties He thinks me now incapable;
confederates,—
130[To have no . .
. incapable: To make sure he was taken seriously, he did
everything in his power to make people think he was the real Duke
of Milan. As for me, well, my books and studies were a large
enough dukedom. Then he regarded me as one who was incapable of
ruling.] So dry he was for sway,—wi’ the
king of Naples To give him annual tribute, do
him homage; Subject his coronet to his crown,
and bend The dukedom, yet unbow’d,—alas,
poor Milan!— To most ignoble
stooping.
135[So dry . . .
stooping: So thirsty was Antonio for power and recognition that he
allied himself with the King of Naples, agreeing to pay the king a
tribute (a sum of money given by a lesser ruler to a greater ruler
in order to gain favor) and to pledge his loyalty to the king.
Never before has the dukedom of Milan stooped to the authority of
another ruler.] MIRANDA: O the
heavens! PROSPERO: Mark his
condition and the event; then tell me If this might be a
brother. [Mark . . .
brother: Think about what he has done. Then tell me whether a
brother should act this way.] MIRANDA: I should
sin To think but nobly of my
grandmother:
140 Good wombs have borne bad
sons. PROSPERO: Now the
condition. This King of Naples, being an
enemy To me inveterate, hearkens my
brother’s suit; Which was, that he, in lieu o’
the premises
145 Of homage and I know not how much
tribute, Should presently extirpate me and
mine Out of the dukedom, and confer
fair Milan, With all the honours on my
brother: whereon, [This King . .
. my brother: This King of Naples, a longtime enemy of mine, told
my brother to uproot me from my dukedom. If my brother succeeded
in this task, the king said, he would recognize Antonio as
the rightful Duke of Milan and not require him to pay the king
money and homage.] A treacherous army levied, one
midnight
150 Fated to the purpose did Antonio
open The gates of Milan; and, i’ the
dead of darkness, The ministers for the purpose
hurried thence Me and thy crying
self. [A treacherous
. . . self: So my brother raised an army, and one dark night his
soldiers captured you and me and took us out of the city. You were
crying.] MIRANDA: Alack [alas], for pity!
155 I, not rememb’ring how I cried
out then, Will cry it o’er again: it is a
hint, That wrings mine eyes to
’t. [I, not . . .
eyes to 'it: I don't remember how I cried then, but I will cry all
over again for what happened to us.] PROSPERO: Hear a little
further, And then I’ll bring thee to the
present business
160 Which now’s upon us; without the
which this story Were most
impertinent. [And then . . . impertinent: And
then bring you up to date on the matter of that ship you thought
had sunk. What happened to that ship and the people aboard is
related to the story I am telling you. MIRANDA: Wherefore did they
not That hour destroy
us? [Wherefore . .
. us: Why didn't our captors kill us after they took us from the
city?] PROSPERO: Well demanded,
wench:
165 My tale provokes that question.
Dear, they durst [dared] not, So dear the love my people bore
me, nor set A mark so bloody on the business;
but With colours fairer painted their
foul ends. In few [to make a long
story short], they
hurried us aboard a bark [ship],
170 Bore us some leagues to sea;
where they prepar’d A rotten carcass of a boat, not
rigg’d, Nor tackle, sail, nor mast; the
very rats Instinctively have quit [had left] it: there they hoist
us, To cry to the sea that roar’d to
us; to sigh
175 To the winds whose pity, sighing
back again, Did us but loving
wrong. MIRANDA: Alack! what
trouble Was I then to you! [Alack . . .
you: Alas, I must have been a lot of trouble to you back then.] PROSPERO: O, a cherubin [an angel]
180 Thou wast, that did preserve me!
Thou didst smile, Infused with a fortitude from
heaven, When I have deck’d the sea with
drops full salt, Under my burden groan’d; which
rais’d in me An undergoing stomach, to bear
up
185 Against what should
ensue. [Thou didst . .
. ensue: You smiled like heaven itself when I cried in despair and
groaned under my burden. That smile gave me new hope and courage
to up against whatever perils we faced.] MIRANDA: How came we
ashore? PROSPERO: By Providence
divine. Some food we had and some fresh
water that A noble Neapolitan,
Gonzalo,
190 Out of his charity,—who being
then appointed Master of this design [who was in charge
of sending us off],—did
give us; with Rich garments, linens, stuffs,
and necessaries, Which since have steaded [helped] much; so, of his
gentleness, Knowing I lov’d my books, he
furnish’d me,
195 From mine own library with
volumes that I prize above my
dukedom. MIRANDA: Would I
might But ever see that
man! PROSPERO: Now I arise:—
[Resumes his mantle [puts his cloak back on].
200 Sit still, and hear the last of
our sea-sorrow. Here in this island we arriv’d;
and here Have I, thy schoolmaster, made
thee more profit [educated you better] Than other princes can, that have
more time For vainer hours and tutors not
so careful.
205 MIRANDA: Heavens thank you
for ’t! And now, I pray you, sir,— For still ’tis beating in my
mind,—your reason For raising this
sea-storm? PROSPERO: Know thus far
forth. By accident most strange,
bountiful Fortune [Fortuna, the goddess of fortune (good and
bad) in Roman mythology],
210 Now my dear lady, hath mine
enemies Brought to this shore [in the shipwreck]; and by my prescience [foreknowledge;
pronunciation: PRESH inss] I find my zenith doth depend upon A most auspicious star, whose
influence If now I court not but omit, my
fortunes
215 Will ever after droop. Here cease
more questions; [I find my . .
. questions: I find that my future good fortune and welfare depend
on the lucky star that brought this ship to our shores. So I must
respond to what has happened rather than sitting by and ignoring
it. Otherwise, my fortunes will droop. For now, don't ask any more
questions.] Thou art inclin’d to sleep; ’tis
a good dullness, And give it way [and allow
drowsiness to overcome you];—I know thou canst not choose.— [MIRANDA
sleeps. Come away, servant, come! I’m
ready now. Approach, my Ariel;
come!
220 Enter ARIEL. ARIEL: All hail, great
master! grave sir, hail! I come To answer thy best pleasure; be
’t to fly, To swim, to dive into the fire,
to ride On the curl’d clouds: to thy
strong bidding task
225 Ariel and all his
quality. [to thy strong
. . . quality: I am ready, with all my powers, to carry out any
task you ask of me.] PROSPERO: Hast thou,
spirit, Perform’d to point the tempest
that I bade thee? [Hast . . .
thee: Have you, spirit, carried out my orders exactly as
instructed regarding the storm and the ship?] ARIEL: To every
article. I boarded the king’s ship; now on
the beak [projecting part of a ship],
230 Now in the waist, the deck, in
every cabin, [waist: part of
a ship between the forecastle—below-deck space in the front of a
ship used for living quarters—and the rear of the ship.] I flam’d amazement [burned like a
torch, amazing the sailors]: sometime I’d divide And burn in many places; on the
topmast, The yards [horizontal spars
supporting sails], and
boresprit [bowsprit, a spar extending forward on the front of a
ship], would I flame
distinctly, Then meet, and join [then rejoin my
divided self]: Jove’s
lightnings, the precursors
235O’ the dreadful thunder-claps, more
momentary And sight-outrunning were not:
the fire and cracks Of sulphurous roaring the most
mighty Neptune Seem to besiege and make his bold
waves tremble, Yea, his dread trident
shake.
240[Jove: Another
name for Jupiter, the king of the gods in Roman mythology. His
Greek name was Zeus.]
[Jove's lightnings . . . shake: Jove's lightning bolts were not
any faster than I was. My flame and my loud cracks and roars
seemed to scare even the mighty Neptune, whose trident shook as
the waves trembled. (Neptune was the god of the sea in Roman
mythology. His Greek name was Poseidon.)]PROSPERO: My brave
spirit! Who was so firm, so constant,
that this coil [uproar; confusion] Would not infect his
reason? ARIEL: Not a
soul But felt a fever of the mad and
play’d
245 Some tricks of desperation. All
but mariners, Plunged in the foaming brine and
quit the vessel, Then all a-fire with me: the
king’s son, Ferdinand, With hair up-staring,—then like
reeds, not hair,— Was the first man that leap’d;
cried, ‘Hell is empty,
250 And all the devils are
here.’ [Not a soul . .
. leap'd: All on the ship were in a fever, like madmen, and
desperately tried to save the ship. Then everyone but the sailors
jumped into the sea while the ship burned with my fire. The king's
son, Ferdinand, with his hair standing on end, was the first to
jump.] PROSPERO: Why, that’s my
spirit! But was not this nigh [near] shore? ARIEL: Close by, my
master. PROSPERO: But are they,
Ariel, safe?
255 ARIEL: Not a hair
perish’d; On their sustaining [buoying] garments not a
blemish, But fresher than before: and, as
thou bad’st [bid me; told me] me, In troops [groups] I have dispers’d them ’bout the
isle. The king’s son have I landed by
himself;
260 Whom I left cooling of the air
with sighs In an odd angle of the isle and
sitting, His arms in this sad
knot. PROSPERO: Of the king’s
ship The mariners, say how thou hast
dispos’d,
265 And all the rest o’ the
fleet. [Of the . . .
fleet: What did you do with the sailors on the king's ship and
with the other ships in the fleet?] ARIEL: Safely in
harbour Is the king’s ship; in the deep
nook, where once Thou call’dst me up at midnight
to fetch dew From the still-vex’d Bermoothes;
[always-stormy
Bermudas] there she’s
hid:
270 The mariners all under hatches
stow’d; Who, with a charm join’d to their
suffer’d labour, I have left asleep: and for the
rest o’ the fleet [Who, with . .
. asleep: Whom I put to sleep with a charm whose effect was
enhanced by their own fatigue from their ordeal] Which I dispers’d, they all have
met again, And are upon the Mediterranean
flote,
275 Bound sadly home for
Naples, Supposing that they saw the
king’s ship wrack’d, And his great person
perish. [they have all . . . perish: All
the other ships in the fleet met up and are now floating home to
Naples on the Mediterranean Sea. Those aboard these ships are sad,
for they think that their king died in the shipwreck that I
staged.] PROSPERO: Ariel, thy
charge Exactly is perform’d: but there’s
more work:
280 What is the time o’ th’
day? ARIEL: Past the mid season [past noon]. PROSPERO: At least two
glasses [hourglasses].
The time ’twixt six and now Must by us both be spent most
preciously. [At least . . .
preciously: At least two hours have passed. Between now and six
o'clock, we have to act fast in carrying out the plans for our
visitors.] ARIEL: Is there more toil?
Since thou dost give me pains,
285 Let me remember thee what thou
hast promis’d Which is not yet perform’d
me. [Is there . . . perform'd me: Is
there more work for me? Well, if you're going to give me
more chores, let me remind you that you have not yet made good on
your promise to me.] PROSPERO: How now!
moody? What is ’t thou canst
demand? [How now . . .
demand: What now? Are you in a bad mood? What is that you think I
promised you?] ARIEL: My
liberty.
290 PROSPERO: Before the time
be out? no more! [Before your time of duty to me has expired?
Nonsense.]ARIEL: I prithee [ask you; beg you;
pray that you] Remember, I have done thee worthy
service; [I prithee . .
. service: I beg you to remember that I have done worthy service
for you.] Told thee no lies, made no
mistakings, serv’d Without or grudge or grumblings:
thou didst promise
295 To bate me a full
year. [Without
. . . full year: Without either grudges or grumbling. You promised
to reduce my time in servitude by a full year.] PROSPERO: Dost thou
forget From what a torment I did free
thee? ARIEL:
No. PROSPERO: Thou dost; and
think’st it much to tread the ooze
300 Of the salt
deep, To run upon the sharp wind of the
north, To do me business in the veins o’
th’ earth When it is bak’d with frost. [Thou dost . .
. frost: You do forget. You think I'm taking advantage of you when
I order you to walk on the ocean floor, run on the north wind, or
perform tasks for me deep in the earth when it is frozen.] ARIEL: I do not,
sir.
305 PROSPERO: Thou liest,
malignant thing! Hast thou forgot The foul witch Sycorax, who with
age and envy Was grown into a hoop [who was bent over
with old age and envy]?
hast thou forgot her? ARIEL: No,
sir. PROSPERO: Thou hast. Where
was she born? speak; tell me.
310 ARIEL: Sir, in Argier [Algiers]. PROSPERO: O! was she so? I
must, Once in a month, recount what
thou hast been, Which thou forget’st. This damn’d
witch, Sycorax, For mischiefs manifold and
sorceries terrible
315 To enter human hearing, from
Argier, Thou know’st, was banish’d: for
one thing she did They would not take her life. Is
not this true?[This damn'd .
. . life: This damned witch named Sycorax was banished from
Algiers for evil sorcery and mischievous acts. The people of that
city had decided not to execute her.] ARIEL: Ay,
sir. PROSPERO: This blue-ey’d
hag was hither brought with child
320[This . . .
child: This blue-eyed witch was brought here when she was
pregnant] And here was left by the sailors.
Thou, my slave, As thou report’st thyself, wast
then her servant: And, for thou wast a spirit too
delicate To act her earthy and abhorr’d
commands, Refusing her grand hests [refusing to carry
out her commands], she
did confine thee,
325 By help of her more potent
ministers [assistants],
And in her most unmitigable [unstoppable;
unrelenting]
rage, Into a cloven pine [into a pine tree
that was split open];
within which rift Imprison’d, thou didst painfully
remain A dozen years; within which space
[within
that time] she
died
330 And left thee there, where thou
didst vent thy groans As fast as mill-wheels strike.
Then was this island,— Save for the son that she did litter
here, A freckled whelp hag-born,—not
honour’d with A human shape.
335[as fast . . .
shape: As fast as the paddles on a mill's water wheel splash into
a waterway. At that time, this island had no one even resembling a
human except for the son she had given birth to here.] ARIEL: Yes; Caliban her
son. PROSPERO: Dull thing, I say
so [That's
what I'm saying, you dummy]; he that Caliban, Whom now I keep in service. Thou
best know’st What torment I did find thee in;
thy groans Did make wolves howl and
penetrate the breasts
340 Of ever-angry bears: it was a
torment To lay upon the damn’d, which
Sycorax Could not again undo; it was mine
art [my
magic],
When I arriv’d and heard thee,
that made gape [that opened up] The pine, and let thee
out.
345 ARIEL: I thank thee,
master. PROSPERO: If thou more
murmur’st, I will rend an oak And peg thee in his knotty
entrails till Thou hast howl’d away twelve
winters. [If thou . . .
winters: If you continue to complain, I will split open an oak
tree and imprison you there for twelve more years.] ARIEL: Pardon,
master;
350 I will be correspondent to
command [I will obey your commands], And do my spiriting
gently. PROSPERO: Do so; and after
two days I will discharge [free] thee. ARIEL: That’s my noble
master!
355 What shall I do? say what? what
shall I do? PROSPERO: Go make thyself
like a nymph of the sea: be subject To no sight but thine and mine;
invisible To every eyeball else. Go, take
this shape, And hither come [come back here] in ’t: go, hence with
diligence! [Exit ARIEL.
360 Awake, dear heart, awake! thou
hast slept well; Awake! MIRANDA: [Waking.]
The strangeness of your story put Heaviness [sleepiness] in me. PROSPERO: Shake it off.
Come on;
365 We’ll visit Caliban my slave, who
never Yields us kind
answer. MIRANDA: ’Tis a villain,
sir, I do not love to look
on. PROSPERO: But, as
’tis,
370 We cannot miss him: he does make
our fire, Fetch in our wood; and serves in
offices That profit us.—What ho! slave!
Caliban! Thou earth [clod; , thou!
speak. CALIBAN: [Within.]
There’s wood enough within. [Caliban is speaking offstage]
375 PROSPERO: Come forth, I
say; there’s other business for thee: Come, thou tortoise!
when? Re-enter ARIEL, like a
water-nymph. Fine apparition! My quaint
Ariel, Hark in thine
ear.
380[Prospero
whispers in Ariel's ear.] ARIEL: My lord, it shall be
done. [Exit. PROSPERO: Thou poisonous
slave, got by the devil himself Upon thy wicked dam, come
forth! Enter CALIBAN.

CALIBAN: As wicked dew as
e’er my mother brush’d
385 With raven’s feather from
unwholesome fen Drop on you both! a south-west
blow on ye, And blister you all
o’er! [As wicked . .
. all o'er: I hope a wicked dew from a rotten swamp drops on both
of you, and I hope a hard-blowing southwest wind blisters you all
over. (A southwest wind could promote illness, people thought.)] PROSPERO: For this, be
sure, to-night thou shalt have cramps, Side-stitches that shall pen thy
breath up; urchins
390 Shall forth at vast of night,
that they may work All exercise on thee: thou shalt
be pinch’d As thick as honeycomb, each pinch
more stinging Than bees that made
them. [For this . . .
them: I'll give you cramps tonight for saying that. You'll have
severe pains in your sides that will take your breath away. In
addition, I'll send mischief-makers to pinch you all over.
Each pinch will hurt more than a bee sting.] CALIBAN: I must eat my
dinner.
395 This island’s mine, by Sycorax my
mother, Which thou tak’st from me. When
thou camest first, Thou strok’dst me, and mad’st
much of me; wouldst give me Water with berries in ’t; and
teach me how To name the bigger light [sun], and how the less [how the lesser
light, the moon]
400 That burn by day and night: and
then I lov’d thee And show’d thee all the qualities
o’ th’ isle, The fresh springs, brine-pits,
barren place, and fertile. Cursed be I that did so!—All the
charms Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats,
light on you!
405 For I am all the subjects that
you have, Which first was mine own king;
and here you sty me In this hard rock [cave], whiles you do keep from
me The rest o’ th’
island. PROSPERO: Thou most lying
slave,
410 Whom stripes [marks left by
whiplashing] may move,
not kindness! I have us’d thee, Filth as thou art, with human
care; and lodg’d thee In mine own cell, till thou didst
seek to violate The honour of my
child. CALIBAN: Oh ho! Oh
ho!—would it had been done!
415 Thou didst prevent me; I had
peopled else [I would otherwise have populated] This isle with
Calibans. PROSPERO: Abhorred
slave, Which any print of goodness will
not take, [Which . . .
take: Who will not do any good deeds] Being capable of all ill! I
pitied thee,
420 Took pains to make thee speak,
taught thee each hour One thing or other: when thou
didst not, savage, Know thine own meaning, but
wouldst gabble [babble] like A thing most brutish, I endow’d
thy purposes With words that made them known:
but thy vile race,
425 Though thou didst learn, had that
in ’t which good natures Could not abide to be with;
therefore wast thou Deservedly confin’d into this
rock, Who hadst deserv’d more than a
prison. CALIBAN: You taught me
language; and my profit on ’t
430 Is, I know how to curse: the red
[bubonic] plague rid [riddle; sicken]
you, For learning me your
language! PROSPERO: Hag-seed [son of a witch], hence [get going]! Fetch us in fuel; and be quick,
thou ’rt best, To answer other business.
Shrug’st thou, malice?
435[Fetch us . . .
malice: Get us some wood for fuel. And you'd best be quick about
to carry out this task. You have a malicious look about you.] If thou neglect’st, or dost
unwillingly What I command, I’ll rack thee
with old cramps, Fill all thy bones with aches;
make thee roar, That beasts shall tremble at thy
din [noise]. CALIBAN: No, pray
thee!—
440[Aside.] I must obey: his
art is of such power, It would control my dam’s god,
Setebos, And make a vassal of him.

[Aside: A
stage direction indicating that the speaker is talking only to
himself (or sometimes to a certain nearby character or several
characters). Other characters on the stage cannot hear the
speaker. However, the audience hears what he or she is saying.[I must . . . of him: I must obey his
orders. His magic is so powerful that he could make a servant of
Setebos, the god to which my mother (dam, line 442) paid homage.]

Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands:
Curtsied when you have, and kiss’d,—
The wild waves whist,—
Foot it featly here and there;
And, sweet sprites, the burden [refrain]
bear.
Hark, hark! [Come unto . . . bear: Come onto
this beach and join hands after you have curtsied to the sea and
kissed the wild waves into calming silence. Do a lively dance
here and there. Then, sweet sprites, sing the refrain of this
song.]

SPIRITS OFFSTAGE (singing the
refrain from different locations): Bow, wow. ARIEL: The watch-dogs bark. SPIRITS OFFSTAGE: Bow, wow. ARIEL: Hark, hark! I hear The strain of strutting
Chanticleer [Cry, Cock-a-diddle-dow.[Hark . . .
dow: Listen! I hear the song of a strutting rooster:
cock-a-doodle-doo. (Chanticleer was a rooster that appeared in
medieval European fables.)] FERDINAND: Where should
this music be? i’ th’ air, or th’ earth? It sounds no more;—and sure, it
waits upon Some god o’ th’ island. Sitting
on a bank, Weeping again the king my
father’s wrack [shipwreck],
450 This music crept by me upon the
waters, Allaying both their fury, and my
passion, With its sweet air [sound]: thence [from the bank] I have follow’d
it,— Or it hath drawn me rather,—but
’tis gone. No, it begins
again.
455

ARIEL sings.

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made:
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.Sea-nymphs hourly ring his
knell: [Burden: ding-dong.[Your father lies thirty feet
below the ocean's surface. His bones are made of coral, and his
eyes have turned into pearls. All of his body is changing into
something rich and strange. Sea nymphs toll a bell for him every
hour. Refrain: ding-dong.]

Hark! now I hear them,—ding-dong,
bell. FERDINAND: The ditty [song] does remember my drown’d
father. This is no mortal business, nor
no sound That the earth owes [owns]:—I hear it now above me.[This is . . .
above me: This song is not coming from any mortal. Nor is it
coming from the earth, for I hear it now above me.] PROSPERO: The fringed
curtains of thine eye advance,
460 And say what thou seest yond. [The fringed .
. . yond: Look over there and tell me what you see.] MIRANDA: What is ’t? a
spirit? Lord, how it looks about! Believe
me, sir, It carries a brave [handsome] form:—but ’tis a
spirit. PROSPERO: No, wench; it
eats and sleeps, and hath such senses
465 As we have, such; this gallant [young man; fellow;
creature] which thou
see’st, Was in the wrack [shipwreck]; and, but he’s something
stain’d With grief,—that’s beauty’s
canker [sore; disease],—thou
might’st call him A goodly person: he hath lost his
fellows And strays about to find
’em.
470 MIRANDA: I might call
him A thing divine; for nothing
natural I ever saw so
noble. PROSPERO: [Aside.] It goes on, I
see, As my soul prompts it.—Spirit,
fine spirit! I’ll free thee
475 Within two days for this. [It goes . . .
this: My plans are going forward as I wish—thanks to the good work
of Ariel, whom I will free in two days.] FERDINAND: [Seeing
Miranda.] Most sure, the goddess On whom these airs
attend!—Vouchsafe, my prayer May know if you remain upon this
island; And that you will some good
instruction give
480 How I may bear me here: my prime
request, Which I do last pronounce, is,—O
you wonder!— If you be maid or no? [Most sure . .
. maid or no: Surely these songs are being sung for this goddess
[Miranda]. O, goddess, grant my requests. I want to know whether
you live on this island and whether you will instruct me on how I
am to act while I'm here. Lastly, O you wonder, are you a maiden
or are you really a goddess?] MIRANDA: No wonder,
sir; But certainly a
maid.
485 FERDINAND: My language!
heavens!— I am the best of them that speak
this speech, Were I but where ’tis
spoken. [My language .
. . spoken: Good heavens, you speak the same language as I. Where
I live, I am the highest-ranking person who speaks this language.
(Because he believes his father died in the shipwreck, he thinks
he is now the King of Naples.] PROSPERO: How! the
best? What wert thou, if the King of
Naples heard thee?
490 FERDINAND: A single thing,
as I am now, that wonders To hear thee speak of Naples. He
does hear me; And, that he does, I weep: myself
am Naples, Who with mine eyes,—ne’er since
at ebb,—beheld The king, my father
wrack’d.
495[A single thing
. . . wrack'd: Just a person who wonders to hear you speak of
Naples. He does hear me and, because he does, I weep for him. I am
now the King of Naples, who with my eyes—which have never ceased
weeping—witnessed my father's death in a shipwreck.] MIRANDA: Alack [alas], for mercy! FERDINAND: Yes, faith, and
all his lords; the Duke of Milan, And his brave son being twain. [Yes . . .
twain: Yes, faith, and all his lords—including the Duke of Milan
and his brave son—also went down with the ship.] PROSPERO: [Aside.] The Duke of
Milan, And his more braver daughter
could control thee,
500 If now ’twere fit to do ’t.—At
the first sight [Aside.]
They have changed eyes:—delicate
Ariel, I’ll set thee free for this!—[To
FER.] A word, good sir; [The Duke . . .
free for this: The real Duke of Milan, me, could control this
young man if if were appropriate to do so. Upon first seeing each
other, Ferdinand and Miranda exchanged loving glances. Love at
first sight! Delicate Ariel, I'll set you free for this good
work.] I fear you have done yourself
some wrong: a word. MIRANDA: [Aside.]
Why speaks my father so ungently? This
505 Is the third man that e’er I saw;
the first That e’er I sigh’d for: pity move
my father To be inclin’d my
way! FERDINAND: [Aside.] O! if a
virgin, And your affection not gone forth
[and
your affection for me remains], I’ll make you
510 The Queen of
Naples. PROSPERO: Soft, sir: one word
more— [Aside.]
They are both in either’s powers: but this swift
business I must uneasy make, lest too
light winning Make the prize light.—[To
FER.] One word more: I charge thee
515[They are . . .
prize light: They are in love, but I have to make their courtship
harder for them. If Ferdinand wins Miranda too easily, he won't
appreciate her. And vice versa.] That thou attend me. Thou dost
here usurp The name thou ow’st [own] not;
and hast put thyself Upon this island as a spy, to win
it From me, the lord on
’t. [Thou dost . .
. on 't: You are assuming a name that is not yours. I think you're
here on this island as a spy. You want to take it from me. But I
am the lord of this island.] FERDINAND: No, as I am a
man.
520 MIRANDA: There’s nothing
ill can dwell in such a temple: If the ill spirit have so fair a
house, Good things will strive to dwell
with ’t. [There's
nothing . . . with 't: There's nothing bad in him. Only good
things can come from so fair a person.] PROSPERO: [To FER.]
Follow me.— [To MIRA.] Speak not you
for him; he’s a traitor.—[To FER.] Come;
525 I’ll manacle thy neck and feet
together: Sea-water shalt thou drink; thy
food shall be The fresh-brook mussles, wither’d
roots and husks Wherein the acorn cradled.
Follow. FERDINAND:
No;
530 I will resist such entertainment
till Mine enemy has more power.
[He draws, and is charmed from
moving. [I will resist
. . . moving: I won't do what you order unless you can defeat me
in combat. Ferdinand draws his sword, but Prospero uses magic to
paralyze him.] MIRANDA: O dear
father! Make not too rash a trial of him,
for
535 He’s gentle, and not
fearful. PROSPERO: What! I
say, My foot my tutor [do you think you
know enough to instruct me]?—Put thy sword up, traitor; Who mak’st a show, but dar’st not
strike, thy conscience Is so possess’d with guilt: come
from thy ward [come to your senses; cease taking that warlike stance],
540 For I can here disarm thee with
this stick [magic wand] And make thy weapon
drop. MIRANDA: Beseech [I beg] you, father! PROSPERO: Hence! hang not
on my garments. [Get out of here, Miranda. Don't hang around
me.] MIRANDA: Sir, have
pity:
545 I’ll be his surety [I'll guarantee
that he won't make trouble]. PROSPERO: Silence! one word
more Shall make me chide [scold] thee, if not hate thee.
What! An advocate for an impostor?
hush! Thou think’st there is no more
such shapes [such handsome men] as he,
550 Having seen but him and Caliban:
foolish wench! To the most of men this is a
Caliban [compared with most other men, Ferdinand is another
Caliban] And they to him are
angels. MIRANDA: My
affections Are then most humble; I have no
ambition
555 To see a goodlier
man. PROSPERO: [To
FERDINAND.] Come on; obey: Thy nerves are in their infancy
again, And have no vigour in them.
[Come on . . . them: Come on.
Obey my orders. You lack the resolve to resist me. Your nerves are
weak.] FERDINAND: So they
are:
560 My spirits, as in a dream, are
all bound up. My father’s loss, the weakness
which I feel, The wrack [shipwreck] of all my friends, or this man’s
threats [and Prospero's threats], To whom I am subdued, are but
light to me, Might I but through my prison
once a day
565 Behold this maid: all corners
else o’ th’ earth Let liberty make use of; space
enough Have I in such a prison. [My father's
loss . . . such a prison: The death of my father, the weakness I
feel, the shipwreck of all my friends, and Prospero's threats all
mean less to me than the sight of beautiful Miranda. If I were in
prison, all I would want is one glance at her each day. Let the
whole world have its liberty everywhere else. All I want is to see
Miranda once a day from my prison cell.] PROSPERO: [Aside.] It works [my strategy is
working].—[To
FERDINAND.] Come on.— Thou hast done well, fine
Ariel!—[To FERDINAND.] Follow me.—
570 [To ARIEL.] Hark, what thou
else shalt do me [shall you do for me]. MIRANDA: Be of
comfort; My father’s of a better nature,
sir, Than he appears by speech: this
is unwonted [not typical of him], Which now came from
him.
575 PROSPERO: Thou [Ariel] shalt be as free As mountain winds; but then
exactly do All points of my
command. ARIEL: To the
syllable. PROSPERO: [To FER.]
Come, follow.—[To MIRANDA] Speak not for him. [Don't try to speak
up for him.]
[Exeunt.
580[Exeunt: The
actors leave the stage.]

Act 2,
Scene 1

Another part of the island. Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO,
GONZALO, ADRIAN, FRANCISCO, and others. GONZALO: Beseech you, sir,
be merry: you have cause, So have we all, of joy; for our
escape Is much beyond our loss. Our hint
of woe
5[for our . . .
woe: Because our lives are worth much more than what we lost. Our
ordeal] Is common: every day some
sailor’s wife, The masters of some merchant and
the merchant, [The masters .
. . the merchant: The captains of some merchant ships and the
merchants themselves] Have just our theme of woe; but
for the miracle, I mean our preservation, few in
millions Can speak like us: then wisely,
good sir, weigh
10 Our sorrow with our
comfort. ALONSO: Prithee, peace. SEBASTIAN to ANTONIO: He
receives comfort like cold porridge. ANTONIO: The visitor will not
give him o’er so. [But Gonzalo won't shut up.] SEBASTIAN: Look, he’s
winding up the watch of his wit; by and by it will
strike.
15[Look . . .
strike: Look, he's winding up his clock--that is, he's getting
ready to talk again. In a moment, he'll strike.] GONZALO to ALONSO:
Sir,— SEBASTIAN: One: tell. [Well, there's one
o'clock and he's beginning.] GONZALO: When every grief
is entertain’d that’s offer’d, Comes to the entertainer— [When . . .
entertainer: When every grief that comes along is experienced by a
person, that person receives—] SEBASTIAN: A
dollar.
20 GONZALO: Dolour comes to
him, indeed: you have spoken truer than you
purposed. [Dolour . . .
purposed: Dolor—that is, suffering—comes to him. The word you
spoke is closer to the truth than you thought.] SEBASTIAN: You have taken
it wiselier [more wisely]
than I meant you should. GONZALO: Therefore, my
lord,— ANTONIO: Fie, what a
spendthrift is he of his tongue! ALONSO: I prithee, spare [spare me more
advice].
25 GONZALO: Well, I have done:
but yet— SEBASTIAN: He will be
talking. ANTONIO: Which, of he or
Adrian [a lord in their company], for a good wager, first begins to
crow? SEBASTIAN: The old
cock. ANTONIO: The
cockerel.
30[A cock is a
grown rooster; cockerel is a rooster less than a year old.] SEBASTIAN: Done. The
wager? ANTONIO: A laughter. [The winner gets
the last laugh.] SEBASTIAN: A
match! ADRIAN: Though this island
seem to be desert,— SEBASTIAN: Ha, ha, ha! So
you’re paid.
35 ADRIAN: Uninhabitable, and
almost inaccessible,— SEBASTIAN:
Yet— ADRIAN:
Yet— ANTONIO: He could not miss
it. ADRIAN: It must needs be of
subtle, tender, and delicate temperance.
40 ANTONIO: Temperance was a
delicate wench. SEBASTIAN: Ay, and a
subtle; as he most learnedly delivered. ADRIAN: The air breathes
upon us here most sweetly. SEBASTIAN: As if it had
lungs, and rotten ones. ANTONIO: Or as ’twere
perfumed by a fen [swamp].
45 GONZALO: Here is everything
advantageous to life. ANTONIO: True; save means
to live. SEBASTIAN: Of that there’s
none, or little. GONZALO: How lush and lusty
the grass looks! how green! ANTONIO: The ground indeed
is tawny [dry and brown].
50 SEBASTIAN: With an eye of
green in ’t. ANTONIO: He misses not
much. SEBASTIAN: No; he doth but
mistake the truth totally. GONZALO: But the rarity of
it is,—which is indeed almost beyond credit [belief],— SEBASTIAN: As many vouch’d
rarities are.
55 GONZALO: That our garments,
being, as they were, drenched in the sea, hold notwithstanding
their freshness and glosses; being rather new-dyed than stain’d
with salt water. ANTONIO: If but one of his
pockets could speak, would it not say he lies? SEBASTIAN: Ay, or very
falsely pocket up his report [or put his mouth in a pocket]. GONZALO: Methinks, our
garments are now as fresh as when we put them on first in Afric [Africa], at the marriage of the king’s fair
daughter Claribel to the King of Tunis. SEBASTIAN: ’Twas a sweet
marriage, and we prosper well in our return.
60 ADRIAN: Tunis was never
graced before with such a paragon to their queen [paragon for a
queen].
GONZALO: Not since widow
Dido’s time. ANTONIO: Widow! a pox o’
that! How came that widow in? [Empasis placed on the second that.] Widow Dido! SEBASTIAN: What if he had
said, widower Aeneas too? Good Lord, how you take
it! ADRIAN: Widow Dido, said
you? you make me study of that: she was of Carthage, not of
Tunis.
65 GONZALO: This Tunis, sir,
was Carthage. ADRIAN:
Carthage? GONZALO: I assure you,
Carthage. [Lines 61-68:
Aeneas (pronounced uh NE ihs] was a warrior in the ancient city of
Troy. After the city fell to the Greeks at the end of the ten-year
Trojan War between Greece and Troy, Aeneas and other Trojans
escaped the city and sailed to Italy, where Aeneas laid the
foundation for the Roman civilization. On his way to Italy, he and
his compatriots stopped at Carthage, on the northern coast of
Africa, where he fell in love with its queen, Dido. In time, he
abandoned her and resumed his voyage to Italy. Broken-hearted,
Dido killed herself. The Roman writer Vergil (70-19 BC) told the
story of Aeneas in his great epic poem, the Aeneid. The ruins of
ancient Carthage lie outside the present-day city of Tunis,
Tunisia. ANTONIO: His word is more
than the miraculous harp [If he says something is so, it has to be so]. SEBASTIAN: He hath rais’d
the wall, and houses too. [He must have moved the whole city of Tunis,
walls and houses, to make it occupy the same site as Carthage.]
70 ANTONIO: What impossible
matter will he make easy next? SEBASTIAN: I think he will
carry this island home in his pocket, and give it his son for an
apple. ANTONIO: And, sowing the
kernels [seeds] of it in
the sea, bring forth more islands. GONZALO: Ay. ANTONIO: Why, in good time.
[Yes, in
good time.]
75 GONZALO: [To ALONSO:]
Sir, we were talking that our garments seem now as fresh as when
we were at Tunis at the marriage of your daughter, who is now
queen. ANTONIO: And the rarest [and the most
beautiful and worthy]
that e’er came there. SEBASTIAN: Bate, I beseech
you, widow Dido. [Bate . . . Dido: [Except for Dido.] ANTONIO: O! widow Dido; ay,
widow Dido. [Oh, Dido. Yes, I suppose that's true.] GONZALO: Is not, sir, my
doublet [close-fitting jacket] as fresh as the first day I wore it? I mean, in a
sort.
80 ANTONIO: That sort was well
fish’d for. [You must have wracked your brains to come up with that
word sort.] GONZALO: When I wore it [the doublet] at your daughter’s
marriage? ALONSO: You cram these
words into mine ears, against The stomach of my sense. Would I
had never Married my daughter there! for,
coming thence,
85 My son is lost; and, in my rate,
she too, Who is so far from Italy
remov’d, I ne’er again shall see her. O
thou, mine heir Of Naples and of Milan! what
strange fish Hath made his meal on
thee?
90[You cram . . .
meal on thee: You cram your words into my ears even though I don't
want to listen to you. I wish I had never allowed my daughter to
marry in Tunis. In the first place, on the trip back from that
city, we lost my son in a storm. In the second place, my daughter
will now live in a far-off land. I'll never see her again. O, my
poor son, the heir of Naples and Milan. What strange fish ate you
as you sank into the sea?] FRANCISCO: Sir, he may
live: I saw him beat the surges under
him, And ride upon their backs: he
trod [past
tense of tread] the water, Whose enmity he flung aside, and
breasted [stayed on top of] The surge most swoln [swollen] that met him: his bold
head
95 ’Bove [above] the contentious waves he kept, and
oar’d Himself with his good arms in
lusty stroke To the shore, that o’er his
wave-worn basis [body] bow’d, As stooping to relieve him. I not
doubt He came alive to
land.
100 ALONSO: No, no; he’s
gone. SEBASTIAN: Sir, you may
thank yourself for this great loss, That would not bless our Europe
with your daughter, But rather lose her to an
African; [Sir, you . . .
African: Sir, it's all your fault for not marrying your daughter
to a European rather than an African.] Where she at least is banish’d
from your eye,
105 Who hath cause to wet the grief
on ’t. ALONSO: Prithee, peace [be quiet]. SEBASTIAN: You were kneel’d
to and importun’d otherwise By all of us; and the fair soul
herself Weigh’d [balanced herself] between loathness and obedience,
at
110 Which end o’ the beam should bow.
We have lost your son, [You were . . .
your son: We all knelt down and begged you not to send her to
Africa. Even Claribel herself loathed the idea but ended up
obeying you. We have lost your son, Ferdinand. I fear, for ever: Milan and
Naples have More widows in
them of this business’ making [more widows in them as a result of
what has happened],
Than we bring men to comfort
them: the fault’s Your own.
115 ALONSO: So is the dearest
of the loss. GONZALO: My lord
Sebastian, The truth you speak doth lack
some gentleness And time to speak it in; you rub
the sore, When you should bring the plaster
[a
healing preparation applied to a sore].
120 SEBASTIAN: Very
well. ANTONIO: And most
chirurgeonly [And you should apply that plaster with the same care as a
surgeon]. GONZALO: It is foul weather
in us all, good sir, When you are
cloudy. SEBASTIAN: Foul
weather?
125 ANTONIO: Very
foul. GONZALO: Had I plantation
of this isle, my lord,— [Had I . . .
lord: Had a I plantation (colony) on this island, my lord—.
Antonio and Sebastian respond as if plantation refers to cultivated land, as the
next two lines indicate.] ANTONIO: He’d sow ’t with
nettle-seed [the seed of a prickly plANTONIO: Its hairs sting a person
who touches it.] SEBASTIAN: Or docks, or
mallows [or weeds].
GONZALO: And were the king
on ’t, what would I do? [If I were the king of the island, do you
know what I'd do?]
130 SEBASTIAN: Scape being drunk for want of wine. [Escape being drunk
because there's not any wine on the island.] GONZALO: I’ the
commonwealth I would by contraries Execute all things; for no kind
of traffic Would I admit; no name of
magistrate; Letters should not be known;
riches, poverty,
135 And use of service, none;
contract, succession, Bourn, bound of land, tilth,
vineyard, none; No use of metal, corn, or wine,
or oil; No occupation; all men idle,
all; And women too, but innocent and
pure;
140 No
sovereignty,— [I' the
commonwealth . . . sovereignty: In my kingdom, I would govern in a
way that no other ruler does. There would be no businesses, no
judges or other government officials, no schools, no wealth or
poverty, no servants. There would be no contracts, no laws
governing the passage of property or a title from one person to
another, no land boundaries, no cultivation of land, no vineyard.
And there would be no use of metal, corn, wine, or oil. In
addition, there would be no occupations; all men and women would
be idle. Women would be innocent and pure. There would be no
sovereign rulers.] SEBASTIAN: Yet he would be
king on ’t. [Yet he would be king of a land that prohibits kings.] ANTONIO: The latter end of
his commonwealth forgets the beginning. [The latter . .
. beginning: The last part of his speech (that there would be no
sovereigns) forgets what he said in the first part (that he would
be the absolute sovereign who executes all things).] GONZALO: All things in
common nature should produce Without sweat or endeavour:
treason, felony,
145[All things . .
. endeavour: All necessities would be produced without work.] Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need
of any engine [or any other weapon], Would I not have; but nature
should [would] bring
forth, Of its own kind [in its own way], all foison [all crops], all abundance, To feed my innocent
people. SEBASTIAN: No marrying
’mong his subjects? [Would anyone get married?]
150 ANTONIO: None, man; all
idle; whores and knaves. [No marriages. Everyone would be idle. But I
guess there would be whores and scoundrels.] GONZALO: I would with such
perfection govern, sir, To excel the golden
age. [golden age:
Peaceful, prosperous, and happy period in any country's history.] SEBASTIAN: Save his
majesty! [Hail is majesty Gonzalo!] ANTONIO: Long live
Gonzalo!
155 GONZALO to ALONSO: And,—do
you mark [listen to] me,
sir? ALONSO: Prithee, no more: thou dost talk nothing to
me. [Shut
up. Your words mean nothing to me.] GONZALO: I do well believe
your highness; and did it to minister occasion to these gentlemen,
who are of such sensible and nimble lungs that they always used to
laugh at nothing. [I do well . .
. nothing: I believe your highness is right in your response to
me. I didn't really mean what I said. I just wanted to spout on
mindlessly to give these gentlemen cockeyed ideas to laugh about.] ANTONIO: ’Twas you we
laugh’d at. GONZALO: Who in this kind
of merry fooling am nothing to you; so you may continue and laugh
at nothing still.
160[Who . . .
still: I realize that in my jesting I am nothing to you. So you
may continue to laugh at nothing.] ANTONIO: What a blow was
there given! [What a blow he gave to us! (Spoken in mockery)] SEBASTIAN: An [if] it had not fallen flat-long. [If it had not
fallen flat.] GONZALO: You are gentlemen
of brave mettle: you would lift the moon out of her sphere, if she
would continue in it five weeks without changing. [You are brave
and helpful gentlemen. You would give the moon a push if it
stalled in orbit of the earth.] Enter ARIEL, invisible, playing
solemn music. SEBASTIAN: We would so, and
then go a-bat-fowling.
165[Yes, we would
help the moon along, then go batfowling. (To batfowl was to
capture roosting birds. First, the hunters would blind a bird with
bright light. Then they would strike it or snare it in a net.] ANTONIO: Nay, good my lord,
be not angry. GONZALO: No, I warrant you;
I will not adventure my discretion so weakly. Will you laugh me
asleep, for I am very heavy? [No, I'm not
angry. I will not judge you harshly without good reason. Will you
laugh me to sleep, since I am very weary?] ANTONIO: Go sleep, and hear
us. [All sleep but ALONSO:, SEBASTIAN:, and ANTONIO:
ALONSO: What! all so soon
asleep! I wish mine eyes Would, with themselves, shut up
my thoughts: I find
170They are inclin’d to do
so. [I wish . . .
do so: I wish I also could fall asleep. Sleep would stop
negative thoughts from racing through my mind. As a matter of
fact, I do feel drowsy.] SEBASTIAN: Please you,
sir, Do not omit the heavy offer of
it: It seldom visits sorrow; when it
doth It is a
comforter.
175[Do not . . .
comforter: Don't pass up the opportunity to lie down. Sleep seldom
comes to the sorrowful. When it does, it is comforting.] ANTONIO: We two, my
lord, Will guard your person while you
take your rest, And watch your
safety. ALONSO: Thank you. Wondrous
heavy. [ALONSO sleeps. Exit ARIEL. SEBASTIAN: What a strange
drowsiness possesses them!
180 ANTONIO: It is the quality
o’ the climate. SEBASTIAN:
Why Doth it not then our eyelids
sink? I find not Myself dispos’d to
sleep. ANTONIO: Nor I: my spirits
are nimble.
185 They fell together all, as by
consent [they all fell asleep at the same time, as if by
agreement]; They dropp’d, as by a
thunder-stroke. What might, Worthy Sebastian? O! what
might?—No more:— And yet methinks I see it in thy
face, What thou should’st be. The
occasion speaks thee; and
190 My strong imagination sees a
crown Dropping upon thy
head. [What might . .
. head: What might happen next, Sebastian? Oh, I shouldn't think
such thoughts, yet I see in your face what you could do—seize the
crown.] SEBASTIAN: What! art thou
waking? [Are you dreaming? Are you in your right mind?] ANTONIO: Do you not hear me
speak? SEBASTIAN: I do; and
surely,
195 It is a sleepy language, and thou
speak’st Out of thy sleep. What is it thou
didst say? This is a strange repose, to be
asleep With eyes wide open; standing,
speaking, moving, And yet so fast
asleep.
200[It is a sleepy
. . . fast asleep: You sound as if you're talking in your sleep.
What did you say? You're in a strange state: sleeping with your
eyes wide open—standing, speaking, moving but still asleep.] ANTONIO: Noble
Sebastian, Thou let’st thy fortune sleep—die
rather; wink’st Whiles thou art
waking. [Thou let'st .
. . waking: You're missing a great opportunity to advance
yourself. This opportunity is in dreamland while you stand here
awake, doing nothing.] SEBASTIAN: Thou dost snore
distinctly: There’s meaning in thy
snores.
205[Thou dost . .
. snores: You snores sound like words. There is meaning in your
snores.] ANTONIO: I am more serious
than my custom: you Must be so too, if heed me; which
to do Trebles thee
o’er. [I am . . .
o'er: I am serious about this, and so must you be. If you heed me,
you could triple your fortunes and well-being.] SEBASTIAN: Well; I am standing
water. [Well, I'm listening. I'm like standing water in a pond.] ANTONIO: I’ll teach you how
to flow. [I'll teach you to flow like a river that is going
somewhere.]
210 SEBASTIAN: Do so: to
ebb, Hereditary sloth instructs
me. [Do so . . .
me: Do so. It is my nature to ebb, like receding water, for I am
lazy by nature.] ANTONIO:
O! If you but knew how you the
purpose cherish Whiles thus you mock it! how, in
stripping it,
215 You more invest it! Ebbing men,
indeed, Most often do so near the bottom
run By their own fear or
sloth. [If you . . .
sloth: If only you realized how much you like my idea even though
you mock it! If only you know how, in dismissing the idea, you
become more enthralled with it. Lazy men most often remain near
the bottom of society because of their fear and inaction.] SEBASTIAN: Prithee, say on: The setting of thine eye and
cheek proclaim
220 A matter from thee, and a birth
indeed Which throes thee much to
yield. [Say on . . .
to yield: Keep talking. The way you're looking at me suggests you
have a worthy plan. However, like a pregnant woman in the throes
of labor, you're have difficulty giving birth to it.]ANTONIO: Thus,
sir: Although this lord of weak
remembrance, this Who shall be of as little
memory
225 When he is earth’d, hath here
almost persuaded,— For he’s a spirit of persuasion,
only Professes to persuade,—the king,
his son’s alive, ’Tis as impossible that he’s
undrown’d As he that sleeps here
swims.
230[Although this
. . . swims: Although this lord, Gonzalo, does not have a good
memory--and nobody will remember him after he's in his grave--he
almost persuaded the king that his son, Ferdinand, is still alive.
Of course, it's as impossible that he's alive as its that this
lord sleeping here is swimming.] SEBASTIAN: I have no
hope That he’s
undrown’d. ANTONIO: O! out of that "no
hope" What great hope have you! no hope
that way is Another way so high a hope that
even
235 Ambition cannot pierce a wink
beyond, But doubts discovery there. Will
you grant with me That Ferdinand is
drown’d? [O! out . . .
drown'd: O! Out of that "no hope" for Ferdinand, as you put it,
there is great hope for you. No hope for Ferdinand means that you
have hope higher than any ambition can reach. But let's get one
thing straight first. Do you agree that Ferdinand drowned?] SEBASTIAN: He’s
gone. ANTONIO: Then tell
me
240 Who’s the next heir of
Naples? SEBASTIAN:
Claribel. ANTONIO: She that is Queen
of Tunis; she that dwells Ten leagues beyond man’s life;
she that from Naples Can have no note, unless the sun
were post—
245 The man i’ th’ moon’s too
slow—till new-born chins Be rough and razorable: she that,
from whom? We all were sea-swallow’d, though
some cast again, And by that destiny to perform an
act Whereof what’s past is prologue,
what to come
250 In yours and my
discharge. [She that . . .
from whom: Yes, Claribel, the Queen of Tunis, who lives so far
away that she is out of touch. Letters sent to her wouldn't travel
any faster than the time it takes for an infant to grow into a
teenager who's shaving for the first time. Only sunlight could
travel fast enough to keep her abreast of what's happening in her
native land. After her wedding, when we were on our way home, we
were all swallowed by the sea. However, some of us were cast to
the surface and made it to shore. It was her wedding that put us
where we are. Now we have an opportunity to take advantage
of what she did for us.] SEBASTIAN: What stuff is
this!—How say you? ’Tis true my brother’s daughter’s
Queen of Tunis; So is she heir of Naples; ’twixt
which regions There is some
space.
255[What stuff . .
. space: What are you trying to say? It's true that my brother
Alonso's daughter is Queen of Tunis and her father's heir. It's
also true that there is a great distance between Naples and
Tunis.] ANTONIO: A space whose
every cubit Seems to cry out, ‘How shall that
Claribel Measure us back to Naples?—Keep
in Tunis, And let Sebastian wake!’—Say,
this were death That now hath seiz’d them; why,
they were no worse
260 Than now they are. There be that
can rule Naples As well as he that sleeps; lords
that can prate As amply and
unnecessarily As this Gonzalo; I myself could
make A chough of as deep chat. O, that
you bore
265 The mind that I do! what a sleep
were this For your advancement! Do you
understand me? [A space . . .
wake: A space whose every cubit (ancient measure equal to the
distance between the elbow and the tip of the middle finger) seems
to say that Claribel is too far away to return to Naples; she
should stay in Tunis and let Sebastian awaken to a new life. Now,
let's suppose those men there were dead instead of asleep. Why,
they would be no worse off than they are now. There is a man who
can rule Naples as well as the sleeping king. And there are others
who can talk just as well and just as unnecessarily as Gonzalo. I
myself can crow the way he does. O, if only you would think the
way I do! Those sleeping men are giving you a great opportunity
for advancement. Do you understand me?] SEBASTIAN: Methinks I
do. ANTONIO: And how does your
content Tender your own good
fortune?
270[And . . .
fortune: And how do you think this situation could advance your
own good fortune?] SEBASTIAN: I
remember You did supplant your brother
Prospero. ANTONIO:
True: And look how well my garments sit
upon me; Much feather than before; my
brother’s servants
275 Were then my fellows; now they
are my men. [And look . . .
men: And now I wear fine clothes, and my brother's servants are
now my servants.] SEBASTIAN: But, for your
conscience,— ANTONIO: Ay, sir; where
lies that? if it were a kibe [chafed skin occurring often on the
heel],
’Twould put me to my slipper; but
I feel not This deity in my bosom: twenty
consciences,
280That stand ’twixt me and Milan,
candied be they, And melt ere they molest! Here
lies your brother, No better than the earth he lies
upon, [but I feel . .
. molest: But I don't feel guilty in my heart. If I had
twenty consciences made of candy--each conscience trying to
persuade me to give back Milan--they'd melt before I'd reach for
even one of them. Here is your sleeping brother, no better than
the earth he lies on.] If he were that which now he’s
like, that’s dead; Whom I, with this obedient
steel,—three inches of it,—
285 Can lay to bed for ever; whiles
you, doing thus, To the perpetual wink for aye
might put This ancient morsel, this Sir
Prudence, who Should not upbraid our course.
For all the rest, They’ll take suggestion as a cat
laps milk;
290 They’ll tell the clock to any
business that We say befits the
hour. [If he were . .
. hour: If I stabbed him to death, you could do the same to
Gonzalo. All the rest of them will accept any explanation we give
them, and they will do whatever we say.] SEBASTIAN: Thy case, dear
friend, Shall be my precedent: as thou
got’st Milan, I’ll come by Naples. Draw thy
sword: one stroke
295 Shall free thee from the tribute
which thou pay st, And I the king shall love
thee. ANTONIO: Draw
together; And when I rear my hand, do you
the like, To fall it on
Gonzalo.
300 SEBASTIAN: O! but one
word. [They converse apart. Music. Re-enter ARIEL,
invisible.

ARIEL: My master through
his art foresees the danger That you, his friend, are in; and
sends me forth— For else his project dies—to keep
thee living. [Sings in GONZALO’S ear.

While you here
do snoring lie,
Open-ey’d Conspiracy
His time doth take.
If of life you keep a care,
Shake off slumber, and beware:
Awake! awake!
305

ANTONIO: Then let us both
be sudden. GONZALO: Now, good
angels Preserve the king! [They
wake. ALONSO: Why, how now! ho,
awake! Why are you drawn [Why are your weapons drawn]? Wherefore this ghastly looking [Why do you have
such a ghastly look on your faces]?
310 GONZALO: What’s the
matter? SEBASTIAN: Whiles we stood
here securing your repose [guarding you while you were asleep], Even now, we heard a hollow burst
of bellowing Like bulls, or rather lions; did
’t not wake you? It struck mine ear most
terribly.
315 ALONSO: I heard
nothing. ANTONIO: O! ’twas a din to
fright a monster’s ear, To make an earthquake: sure it
was the roar Of a whole herd of
lions. ALONSO: Heard you this,
Gonzalo?
320 GONZALO: Upon mine honour,
sir, I heard a humming, And that a strange one too, which
did awake me. I shak’d you, sir, and cried; as
mine eyes open’d, I saw their weapons drawn:—there
was a noise, That’s verily. ’Tis best we stand
upon our guard,
325 Or that we quit this place: let’s
draw our weapons. ALONSO: Lead off this
ground, and let’s make further search For my poor
son. GONZALO: Heavens keep him
from these beasts! For he is, sure, i’ [in] the island.
330 ALONSO: Lead away.
[Exit with the others. ARIEL: Prospero my lord
shall know what I have done: COUPLET So, king, go safely on to seek
thy son. [Exit.

Act 2,
Scene 2

Another part of the island.

Enter CALIBAN, with a burden of
wood. A noise of thunder heard. CALIBAN: All the infections
that the sun sucks up From bogs, fens, flats, on
Prosper [Prospero] fall,
and make him
5[bogs, fens,
flats: A bog is a spongy wetland area with an acidic surface
composed mainly of moss and peat. A fen is similar to a bog, but
it is less acidic. A flat is a stretch of level land.] By inch-meal [by inch-meal:
Little by little] a
disease! His spirits hear me, And yet I needs must curse. But
they’ll nor pinch, Fright me with urchin-shows,
pitch me i’ the mire, Nor lead me, like a firebrand, in
the dark Out of my way, unless he bid ’em;
but
10For every trifle are they set upon
me: [But they'll .
. . upon me: But they won't pinch me or frighten me by appearing
as goblins. Nor will they throw me into the mud or lead me, like a
torch in the dark, onto a false trail--unless he tells them to.
But he does have them track me and punish me for every little
thing that I do wrong.] Sometime like apes, that mow [frown] and chatter at me And after bite me; then like
hedge-hogs, which Lie tumbling in my bare-foot way
and mount Their pricks at my foot-fall;
sometime am I
15 All wound with adders, who with
cloven tongues Do hiss me into madness.— [Sometime like
. . . madness: Sometimes these spirits appear as apes that frown
and chatter at me, then bite me. Sometimes they appear as
hedgehogs (an animal similar to a porcupine) that lie in my path
as I walk barefooted. Their stiff quills prick my feet. Sometimes
poisonous adders wind around me and hiss me into madness.] Enter TRINCULO. Lo now! lo! Here comes a spirit of his, and
to torment me
20 For bringing wood in slowly: I’ll
fall flat; Perchance he will not mind me. TRINCULO: Here’s neither
bush nor shrub to bear off [shelter me from] any weather at all, and another storm
brewing; I hear it sing i’ the wind: yond [yonder] same black cloud, yond huge one,
looks like a foul bombard [bomber] that would shed his liquor [rain]. If it should thunder as it did
before, I know not where to hide my head: yond same cloud cannot
choose but fall by pailfuls.—What have we here? a man or a fish?
Dead or alive? A fish: he smells like a fish; a very ancient [rotten] and fish-like smell; a kind of not of
the newest Poor-John [small fish of low quality]. A strange fish! Were I in England
now,—as once I was,—and had but this fish painted, not a holiday
fool there but would give a piece of silver: there would this
monster [ugly fish] make
a man [make
me rich]; any strange
beast there makes a man. When they will not give a doit [small coin of
meager value] to relieve
a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian. Legg’d
[this
fish has legs] like a
man! and his fins like arms! Warm, o’ my troth! [His body is still
warm, by Jove.] I do now
let loose my opinion, hold it no longer [I do no contradict
what I said before]; this
is no fish, but an islander, that hath lately suffered by a
thunderbolt. [Thunder.] Alas! the storm is come again:
my best way is to creep under his [Caliban's] gaberdine [cloak]; there is no other shelter hereabout:
misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows. I will here shroud
[stay
under this cloak] till
the dregs [last trickle] of
the storm be past. Enter STEPHANO, singing; a bottle
in his hand. STEPHANO:

I shall no more
to sea, to sea,
Here shall I die a-shore:—
25

This is a very scurvy tune to
sing at a man’s funeral: Well, here’s [to] my comfort. [Drinks.

The master, the
swabber, the boatswain and I,
The gunner and his mate,
Lov’d Mall, Meg, and Marian and Margery,
But none of us car’d for Kate;
For she had a tongue with a tang,
Would cry to a sailor, ‘Go hang!’
She lov’d not the savour of tar nor of pitch,
Yet a tailor might scratch her where-e’er she did itch:
Then to sea, boys, and let her go hang.

This is a scurvy tune too: but
here’s [to] my
comfort. [Drinks. CALIBAN: Do not torment me:
O! STEPHANO: What’s the
matter?
30 Have we devils here? Do you put
tricks upon us with savages and men of Ind [India]? Ha! I have not ’scaped drowning, to
be afeard now of your four legs; for it hath been said, As proper
a man as ever went on four legs cannot make him give ground: and
it shall be said so again while Stephano breathes at’s [at his] nostrils. CALIBAN: The spirit
torments me: O! STEPHANO: This is some
monster of the isle with four legs , who hath got, as I take it,
an ague [fever]. Where
the devil should he learn our language? I will give him some
relief, if it be but for that: if I can recover [cure] him and keep him tame and get to
Naples with him, he’s a present for any emperor that ever trod on
neat’s-leather [cow's leather]. CALIBAN: Do not torment me,
prithee: I’ll bring my wood home
faster. STEPHANO: He’s in his fit
now and does not talk after the wisest. He shall taste of my
bottle: if he have never drunk wine afore it will go near to
remove his fit. If I can recover [cure] him, and keep him tame, I will not take too much for him
[I will
sell him for a great sum]:
he shall pay for him that hath him, and that
soundly.
35 CALIBAN: Thou dost me yet
but little hurt; thou wilt anon [soon], I know it by thy trembling: now Prosper [Prospero] works upon thee. STEPHANO: Come on your
ways: open your mouth; here is that which will give language to
you, cat. Open your mouth: this will shake [stop] your shaking [shivering], I can tell you, and that
soundly [gives CALIBAN drink]: you cannot tell who’s your
friend; open your chaps [jaws] again. TRINCULO: I should know
that voice: it should be—but he [Stephano] is drowned, and these are devils. O!
defend me. STEPHANO: Four legs and two
voices; a most delicate monster! [Trinculo and Caliban are both under
Caliban's cloak. Stephano thinks they are a single being with two
voices and four legs.]
His forward voice now is to speak well of his friend; his backward
voice is to utter foul speeches, and to detract. If all the wine
in my bottle will recover [cure] him, I will help his ague [fever]. Come. Amen! I will pour some in thy
other mouth. TRINCULO:
Stephano!
40 STEPHANO: Doth thy other
mouth call me [Is one of your voices addressing me?] Mercy! mercy! This is a devil, and no
monster: I will leave him; I have no long spoon.[I have no long
spoon: Old saying. It means that someone who dines with Satan
should have a long spoon in order to keep his distance from the
evil one.] TRINCULO: Stephano!—if thou
beest [be;
are] Stephano, touch me,
and speak to me; for I am Trinculo:—be not afeard—thy good friend
Trinculo. STEPHANO: If thou beest
Trinculo, come forth. I’ll pull thee by the lesser [shorter] legs: if any be Trinculo’s legs,
these are they. Thou art very Trinculo indeed! How cam’st thou to
be the siege of this moon-calf [freak; fool;
monster]? Can he vent
Trinculos? TRINCULO: I took him to be
killed with a thunder-stroke. [I thought he was killed by lightning.] But art thou not drowned, Stephano? I
hope now thou art not drowned. Is the storm overblown? I hid me
under the dead moon-calf’s gaberdine for fear of the storm. And
art thou living, Stephano? O Stephano! two Neapolitans ’scaped! [At least two of us
Neapolitans escaped drowning.][Stephano
joyfully dances around with Trinculo.] STEPHANO: Prithee, do not turn me about: my stomach is
not constant [my stomach is queasy].
45 CALIBAN: [Aside.] These be fine things an if
they be not sprites. That’s a brave god and bears
celestial liquor: I will kneel to
him.

[Aside: Spoken to himself][These be . . . him: These are
fine creatures if they're not sprites. That one is a wonderful
god who has liquor from the heavens. I will kneel before him.]

STEPHANO: How didst thou
’scape? How cam’st thou hither [here]? swear by this bottle, how thou cam’st hither. I escaped
upon a butt of sack [strong Spanish wine popular in England in
Shakespeare's time] made
in Spain and the Canary Islands, which the sailors heaved
overboard, by this bottle! which I made of the bark of a tree with
mine own hands, since I was cast ashore. [I escaped upon
. . . ashore: I swear by this bottle that I escaped on a cask of
wine that the sailors heaved overboard. I made the bottle out of
tree bark after I reached the shore. ] CALIBAN: I’ll swear upon
that bottle, to be thy true subject; for the liquor is not
earthly.
50 STEPHANO: Here: swear then,
how thou escaped. TRINCULO: Swam ashore, man,
like a duck: I can swim like a duck, I’ll be
sworn. STEPHANO: Here, kiss the
book [take
a drink]. [gives
TRINCULO drink]. Though thou canst swim like a duck, thou
art made like a goose [silly person]. TRINCULO: O Stephano! hast
any more of this? STEPHANO: The whole butt,
man: my cellar is in a rock by the seaside, where my wine is hid.
How now, moon-calf! how does thine ague [fever]?
55 CALIBAN: Hast thou not
dropped from heaven? STEPHANO: Out o’ the moon,
I do assure thee: I was the man in the moon, when time
was. CALIBAN: I have seen thee
in her, and I do adore thee; my mistress showed me thee, and thy
dog, and thy bush. STEPHANO: Come, swear to
that; kiss the book; I will furnish it anon [noon] with new contents;
swear. TRINCULO: By this good
light, this is a very shallow monster.—I afeard of him!—a very
weak monster.—The man i’ the moon! a most poor credulous
monster!—Well drawn, monster, in good sooth.
60 [By this . . .
sooth: By this good light, I can tell that he's not a very
imposing monster. I afraid of him? Hah. A very weak monster who
will believe anything you tell him. Well drawn from the bottle,
monster, I must say.] CALIBAN: I’ll show thee
every fertile inch o’ the island; And I will kiss thy foot. I prithee, be my god. TRINCULO: By this light, a
most perfidious [untrustworthy] and drunken monster: when his god’s
asleep, he’ll rob his bottle. CALIBAN: I’ll kiss thy
foot: I’ll swear myself thy subject. STEPHANO: Come on then;
down, and swear.
65 TRINCULO: I shall laugh
myself to death at this puppy-headed monster. A most scurvy
monster! I could find in my heart to beat him,—
STEPHANO: Come,
kiss. TRINCULO: But that the poor
monster’s in drink: an abominable monster! CALIBAN: I’ll shew [show] thee the best springs; I’ll pluck
thee berries; I’ll fish for thee, and get thee
wood enough.
70 A plague upon the tyrant that I
serve! I’ll bear him no more sticks, but
follow thee, Thou wondrous
man. TRINCULO: A most ridiculous
monster, to make a wonder of a poor drunkard! CALIBAN: I prithee, let me bring thee where crabs [crabapples] grow;
75 And I with my long nails will dig
thee pig-nuts [pignut: plant with edible roots]; Show thee a jay’s nest and
instruct thee how To snare the nimble marmozet [marmoset: small
monkey]; I’ll bring
thee To clust’ring filberts [hazelnuts], and sometimes I’ll get
thee Young scamels [scamel: probably a
type of bird] from the
rock. Wilt thou go with me?
80 STEPHANO: I prithee now, lead the way, without any more
talking.—Trinculo, the king and all our company else being
drowned, we will inherit here [this island].—Here; bear my bottle.—Fellow
Trinculo, we’ll fill him by and by again. [Here, Trinculo,
carry my bottle for me. We'll fill it in a little while.] CALIBAN: Farewell, master [Prospero]; farewell, farewell. [Sings
drunkenly. TRINCULO: A howling
monster, a drunken monster. CALIBAN:

Act 3,
Scene 1

Before PROSPERO'S cell. Enter FERDINAND, bearing a log.

FERDINAND: There be some
sports are painful, and their labour Delight in them sets off: some
kinds of baseness Are nobly undergone, and most
poor matters
5 Point to rich ends. This my mean
task Would be as heavy to me as
odious; but The mistress which I serve
quickens what’s dead And makes my labours pleasures:
O! she is Ten times more gentle than her
father’s crabbed,
10[There be . . .
crabbed: Some tasks are painful. But the hard work in executing
them can make them rewarding. Some kinds of lowly tasks are
completed to win a rich prize. This task I am now carrying out
would normally be burdensome and hateful, but I enjoy doing it
because completing it will please Miranda. Oh, she is ten times
more gentle than her rough and disagreeable father.] And he’s compos’d of harshness. I
must remove Some thousands of these logs and
pile them up, Upon a sore injunction [according to his
instructions]: my sweet
mistress Weeps when she sees me work, and
says such baseness Had never like executor. I
forget:
15 But these sweet thoughts do even
refresh my labours, Most busiest when I do
it. [such baseness
. . . do it: Such lowly tasks never had such a noble and worthy
man to carry them out. But her sweet thoughts for me make my labor
enjoyable, especially when I am at my busiest.] Enter MIRANDA and PROSPERO,
behind. MIRANDA to FERDINAND: Alas!
now, pray you, Work not so hard: I would the
lightning had
20 Burnt up those logs that you are
enjoin’d [ordered; required] to pile! Pray, set it down and rest you:
when this burns, ’Twill [it will] weep for having wearied you. My
father Is hard at study; pray now, rest
yourself: He’s safe for these three
hours.
25[He's safe . .
. hours: We're at a safe distance from him for three hours.] FERDINAND: O most dear
mistress, The sun will set, before I shall
discharge What I must strive to do. [The sun . . .
to do: The sun will set before I have a chance to complete my
task.] MIRANDA: If you’ll sit
down, I’ll bear your logs the while.
Pray, give me that [give me that log];
30 I’ll carry it to the
pile. FERDINAND: No, precious
creature: I had rather crack my sinews [injure my muscles], break my back, Than you should such dishonour
undergo, While I sit lazy
by.
35 MIRANDA: It would become
me As well as it does you: and I
should do it With much more ease; for my good
will is to it, And yours it is against. [It would . . .
against: I could just as well carry wood as you. And I could do so
more easily than you, because I would be willing to do it. You,
however, are not willing to let me do it.] PROSPERO: [Aside.] Poor worm! thou art infected:
40 This visitation shows it. [Poor . . .
shows it: My poor daughter! You are in love. What I see proves
it.] MIRANDA: You look
wearily. FERDINAND: No, noble
mistress; ’tis fresh morning with me When you are by at night. I do
beseech you— Chiefly that I might set it in my
prayers—
45 What is your
name? MIRANDA: Miranda.—O my
father! I have broke your hest [instruction;
command] to say
so. FERDINAND: Admir’d
Miranda! Indeed, the top of admiration;
worth
50 What’s dearest to the world! Full
many a lady I have ey’d with best regard, and
many a time The harmony of their tongues hath
into bondage Brought my too diligent ear: for
several virtues Have I lik’d several women; never
any
55 With so full soul but some defect
in her Did quarrel with the noblest
grace she ow’d, And put it to the foil: but you,
O you! [Full many a .
. . foil: I have eyed many ladies looking for the best in them,
and many of them spoke in such a way that they enthralled me. I
have liked several women for certain virtues. But always I found
some defect in a woman which was out of harmony with the noblest
grace she possessed and thus detracted from it.] So perfect and so peerless, are
created Of every creature’s
best.
60 MIRANDA: I do not
know One of my sex; no woman’s face
remember, Save, from my glass [mirror], mine own: nor have I
seen More that I may call men than
you, good friend, And my dear father: how features
are abroad,
65 I am skill-less of; but, by my
modesty,— The jewel in my dower,—I would
not wish Any companion in the world but
you; [how features .
. . but you: How people appear elsewhere I do not know. But my
modesty--the jewel of all I possess--I would not give to anyone
but you.] Nor can imagination form a
shape, Besides yourself, to like of [to compare you
with]. But I
prattle
70 Something too wildly and my
father’s precepts I therein do
forget. FERDINAND: I am in my
condition A prince, Miranda; I do think, a
king;— I would not so!—and would no more
endure
75 This wooden slavery than to
suffer The flesh-fly blow my mouth.—Hear
my soul speak:— [I am . . . my
mouth: I am by status a prince. But I may be a king--I hope it is
not so!--and would no more endure the slavery of carrying wood
than to a allow fleshfly to deposit its offspring in my mouth. (A
fleshfly is unlike the common housefly in that it lays hatching
maggots instead of eggs.] The very instant that I saw you
did My heart fly to your service;
there resides To make me slave to it; and for
your sake
80 Am I this patient
log-man. [there resides
. . . log-man: In you, my heart resides as a slave to your every
wish. For your sake I am patiently carrying logs.] MIRANDA: Do you love
me? FERDINAND: O heaven! O
earth! bear witness to this sound, And crown what I profess with
kind event If I speak true: if hollowly,
invert
85 What best is boded me to
mischief! I, Beyond all limit of what else i’
the world, Do love, prize, honour
you. [O heaven . . .
honour you: Heaven and earth, bear witness to what I say. If I
speak the truth, make my dreams come true. If I speak falsely,
reverse any good fortune predicted for me. Beyond all limit, I do
love, prize, and honor you.] MIRANDA: I am a
fool To weep at what I am glad
of.
90 PROSPERO: [Aside.] Fair
encounter Of two most rare affections!
Heavens rain grace On that which breeds between
them! FERDINAND: Wherefore [why] weep you? MIRANDA: At mine
unworthiness, that dare not offer
95 What I desire to give; and much
less take What I shall die to wANTONIO: But
this is trifling; And all the more it seeks to hide
itself The bigger bulk it shows. Hence,
bashful cunning! And prompt me, plain and holy
innocence!
100[At mine . . .
innocence: I weep because I am not worthy to offer what I want to
give. I also weep because I am not worthy to take what I want to
receive. But this is foolish. The more I try to hide my feelings,
the more they show themselves. Therefore, I will cease being
bashful. Plain and holy innocence will prompt me to speak
plainly.] I am your wife, if you will marry
me; If not, I’ll die your maid [I'll die a virgin]: to be your fellow [wife] You may deny me; but I’ll be your
servant Whether you will or
no. FERDINAND: My mistress,
dearest;
105 And I thus humble
ever. MIRANDA: My husband
then? FERDINAND: Ay, with a heart
as willing As bondage e’er of freedom:
here’s my hand. MIRANDA: And mine, with my
heart in ’t: and now farewell
110 Till half an hour
hence. FERDINAND: A thousand
thousand! [Exeunt FERDINAND and MIRANDA
severally. PROSPERO: So glad of this
as they, I cannot be, Who are surpris’d withal; but my
rejoicing At nothing can be more. [But my rejoicing
at their love could not be greater.] I’ll to my book [book of magic];
115 For yet, ere supper time, must I
perform Much business appertaining.
[Exit.

Act 3,
Scene 2

Another part of the island. Enter CALIBAN, with a bottle,
STEPHANO, and TRINCULO. STEPHANO: Tell not me:—when
the butt is out [when the wine cask is empy], we will drink water; not a drop
before: therefore bear up, and board ’em.—Servant-monster, drink
to me. TRINCULO: Servant-monster!
the folly of this island! They say there’s but five upon this
isle: we are three of them; if th’ other two be brained like us,
the state totters. STEPHANO: Drink,
servant-monster, when I bid thee: thy eyes are almost set in thy
head.
5 TRINCULO: Where should they
be set else? he were a brave [fearsome] monster indeed, if they were set in
his tail. STEPHANO: My man-monster
hath drowned his tongue in sack: for my
part, the sea cannot drown me; I swam, ere I could recover [before
I could reach] the shore, five-and-thirty leagues [105 miles], off
and on, by this light. Thou shalt be my lieutenant, monster, or my
standard [flag carrier].
TRINCULO: Your lieutenant,
if you list; he’s no standard. [You should recruit him as a
lieutenANTONIO: But he's so drunk he cannot bear a standard
upright.] STEPHANO: We’ll not run,
Monsieur monster. TRINCULO: Nor go neither:
but you’ll lie, like dogs; and yet say nothing neither. [He shouldn't walk
either. He should simply lie there like a dog and say nothing.]
10 STEPHANO: Moon-calf, speak once in thy life, if thou
beest a good moon-calf. CALIBAN: How does thy
honour? Let me lick thy shoe. I’ll not serve
him [Trinculo]; he is not valiANTONIO: TRINCULO: Thou liest, most
ignorant monster: I am in case to justle a constable [fight an officer
of the law]. Why, thou
deboshed [debased; corrupt]
fish thou, was there ever a man a coward that hath drunk so much sack as I to-day? Wilt thou tell a
monstrous lie, being but half a fish and half a
monster? CALIBAN: Lo, how he mocks
me! wilt thou let him, my lord? TRINCULO: ‘Lord’ quoth
he!—that a monster should be such a natural [that a monster
should be so polite and civilized]!
15 CALIBAN: Lo, lo, again!
bite him to death, I prithee.
STEPHANO: Trinculo, keep a
good tongue in your head: if you prove a mutineer, [if you oppose me,
you'll hang on] the next
tree! The poor monster’s my subject, and he shall not suffer
indignity. CALIBAN: I thank my noble
lord. Wilt thou be pleas’d To hearken once again the suit I
made thee? [to do what I asked?] STEPHANO: Marry, will I;
kneel, and repeat it: I will stand, and so shall
Trinculo.
20 Enter ARIEL, invisible. CALIBAN: As I told thee
before, I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning
hath cheated me of the island. ARIEL: Thou liest.. CALIBAN: Thou liest [spoken to Trinculo
in the belief that Ariel's words were Trinculo's], thou jesting monkey
thou; I would my valiant master would
destroy thee;
25 I do not lie. STEPHANO: Trinculo, if you
trouble him any more in his tale, by this hand, I will supplant [knock out] some of your teeth.
TRINCULO: Why, I said
nothing. STEPHANO: Mum then and no
more.—[To CALIBAN.] Proceed. CALIBAN: I say, by sorcery
he got this isle;
30 From me he got it: if thy
greatness will, Revenge it on him,—for, I know,
thou dar’st; But this thing dare
not,— [I say . . .
dare not: I tell you that my master, Prospero, got this island
from me by sorcery. If your greatness would do so, I ask that you
gain revenge against him. I know that you have what it takes to
dare such a task. But this thing, Trinculo, does not.] STEPHANO: That’s most
certain. CALIBAN: Thou shalt be lord
of it [this island] and I’ll serve thee.
35 STEPHANO: How now shall
this be compassed? Canst thou bring me to the party? [How now . . .
party: How can I become the lord of the island? Can you take me to
its present ruler?] CALIBAN: Yea, yea, my lord:
I’ll yield him thee asleep, Where thou may’st knock a nail
into his head. [Yea . . .
head: Yes, yes, my lord. I'll take you to him when he is asleep.
You can drive a nail into his head.] ARIEL: Thou liest; thou
canst not [you can't do what you said]. CALIBAN: What a pied
ninny’s this! Thou scurvy patch!—
40[pied ninny: Pied means multi-colored. Jesters such
as Trinculo usually wore costumes with many bright colors. A ninny
was a simpleton.] I do beseech thy greatness, give
him blows, And take his bottle from him:
when that’s gone He shall drink nought [nothing] but brine [sea water]; for I’ll not show
him Where the quick freshes [flowing spring
waters]
are. STEPHANO: Trinculo, run
into no further danger: interrupt the monster one word further,
and, by this hand, I’ll turn my mercy out o’ doors [I won't show you
any mercy] and make a
stock-fish of thee.
45 TRINCULO: Why, what did I?
I did nothing. I’ll go further off [I'm getting out of
here].
STEPHANO: Didst thou not
say he lied? ARIEL: Thou
liest. STEPHANO to TRINCULO: Do I
so? take thou that. [Strikes TRIN.] As you like this, give me the lie
another time [If you like being struck, say again that I lied].
50 TRINCULO: I did not give
thee the lie:—Out o’ your wits and hearing too?—A pox o’ your
bottle! this can sack and
drinking do.—A murrain on your monster, and the devil take your
fingers! [I did not . .
. fingers: I did not say you lied. Are you out of your wits and
hearing? A curse on your bottle. This is what drinking too much
wine can do. I hope that your monster gets a deadly disease
(murrain) and that thedevil takes your fingers.] CALIBAN: Ha, ha,
ha! STEPHANO: Now, forward with
your tale.—Prithee stand further off.
CALIBAN: Beat him enough:
after a little time I’ll beat him
too.
55 STEPHANO: Stand further [farther away].—Come, proceed. CALIBAN: Why, as I told
thee, ’tis a custom with him I’ the afternoon to sleep: there
thou may’st brain him, Having first seiz’d his books; or
with a log Batter his skull, or paunch him
with a stake [plunge a stake into his belly],
60 Or cut his wezand with thy knife.
Remember [wezand:
Weasand (pronounced WIZ ind or WEEZ ind), throat] First to possess his books; for
without them He’s but a sot [drunkard], as I am, nor hath
not One spirit to command: they all
do hate him As rootedly as I. Burn but his
books [burn
the books];
65 He has brave utensils [furnishings for
interior decor],—for so
he calls them,— Which, when he has a house, he’ll
deck [decorate] withal [with]: And that most deeply to consider
is The beauty of his daughter; he
himself Calls her a nonpareil [person without
equal; pronounced non puh RAIL or non
puh REL]: I never saw a
woman,
70 But only Sycorax my dam [my mother] and she; But she as far surpasseth
Sycorax As great’st does
least. [But she . . .
least: But she far surpasses Sycorax in beauty.] STEPHANO: Is it so brave [wonderful] a lass? CALIBAN: Ay, lord; she will
become thy bed, I warrant,
75 And bring thee forth brave
brood. STEPHANO: Monster, I will
kill this man: his daughter and I will be king and queen,—save our
graces! and Trinculo and thyself shall be viceroys. Dost thou like
the plot, Trinculo? TRINCULO:
Excellent. STEPHANO: Give me thy hand:
I am sorry I beat thee; but, while thou livest, keep a good tongue
in thy head. CALIBAN: Within this half
hour will he be asleep;
80 Wilt thou destroy him
then? STEPHANO: Ay, on mine
honour. ARIEL: This will I tell my
master. CALIBAN: Thou mak’st me
merry: I am full of pleasure. Let us be jocund: will you troll
[sing] the catch [song]
85 You taught me but while-ere [just moments ago]? STEPHANO: At thy request,
monster, I will do reason, any reason: Come on, Trinculo, let us
sing. [Sings.

CALIBAN: That’s not the
tune. [ARIEL plays the tune on a tabor [small drum] and pipe. STEPHANO: What is this
same? TRINCULO: This is the tune
of our catch, played by the picture of Nobody [by someone we
can't see].
90 STEPHANO: If thou beest [are] a man, show thyself in thy likeness:
if thou beest a devil, take ’t as thou list [take any form that
you please].
TRINCULO: O, forgive me my
sins! STEPHANO: He that dies pays
all debts [is forgiven all his sins]: I defy thee.—Mercy upon us! CALIBAN: Art thou
afeard? STEPHANO: No, monster, not
I. 95 CALIBAN: Be not afeard: the
isle is full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs, that give
delight, and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling [same as twanging] instruments Will hum about mine ears; and
sometime voices, That, if I then had wak’d after
long sleep,
100 Will make me sleep again: and
then, in dreaming, The clouds methought would open
and show riches Ready to drop upon me; that, when
I wak’d I cried to dream
again. STEPHANO: This will prove a
brave [wonderful] kingdom to me, where I shall have my
music for nothing.
105 CALIBAN: When Prospero is
destroyed. STEPHANO: That shall be by
and by: I remember the story. TRINCULO: The sound is
going away: let’s follow it, and after do our
work. STEPHANO: Lead, monster;
we’ll follow.—I would I could see this taborer [drummer]! he lays it on. Wilt
come? TRINCULO: I’ll follow,
Stephano. [Exeunt.
110

Act 3,
Scene 3

Another part of the island. Enter ALONSO, SEBASTIAN, ANTONIO,
GONZALO, ADRIAN, FRANCISCO, and others. GONZALO: By ’r lakin [by Our Lady], I can go no further,
sir; My old bones ache: here’s a maze
trod indeed, Through forth-rights, and
meanders! by your patience,
5[here's a . . .
meanders: We're in a maze that sometimes takes us on straight
paths and sometimes wanders this way and that.] I needs must rest
me. ALONSO: Old lord, I cannot
blame thee, Who am myself attach’d with
weariness, To the dulling of my spirits: sit
down, and rest. Even here I will put off my hope,
and keep it
10 No longer for my flatterer: he is
drown’d Whom thus we stray to find; and
the sea mocks Our frustrate search on land.
Well, let him go. [Even here . . . him go: Right
here, I am losing all hope of ever finding Ferdinand alive. He
must have drowned. The sounds of the sea mock our frustrating
search for him on land. Well, maybe it's time to face the truth.
He is dead. ANTONIO [Aside to SEBASTIAN]: I am right glad
that he’s so out of hope. Do not, for one repulse, forego
the purpose
15 That you resolv’d to
effect. [Do not . . .
effect: Don't for a single minute give up on the plan we devised.] SEBASTIAN [Aside to ANTONIO]: The next
advantage Will we take
throughly. [The next . . .
throughly: The next chance we get, we'll go through with the
plan.] ANTONIO [Aside to
SEBASTIAN]: Let it be to-night; For, now they are oppress’d with
travel, they
20 Will not, nor cannot, use such
vigilance [be as watchful] As when they are
fresh. SEBASTIAN [Aside to ANTONIO]: I say to-night: no
more. Solemn and strange music; and
PROSPERO above, invisible. Enter below several strange shapes,
bringing in a banquet: they dance about it with gentle actions of
salutation; and, inviting the king, &c., to eat, they depart. ALONSO: What harmony is
this? my good friends, hark!
25 GONZALO: Marvellous sweet
music! ALONSO: Give us kind
keepers, heavens! [Be kind to us, heavens!] What were these [what did we just
see]? SEBASTIAN: A living
drollery [unusual or whimsical event]. Now I will believe
That there are unicorns; that in
Arabia There is one tree, the phoenix’
throne; one phoenix
30 At this hour reigning
there. [phoenix: In
Egyptian mythology, the phoenix was a bird that lived five hundred
years, then died in a fire after the sun ignited an Arabian tree
on which the phoenix was perched. The tree was located near
Heliopolis, Egypt. From the ashes, the phoenix rose to new life.] ANTONIO: I’ll believe
both; And what does else want credit,
come to me, [And what . . .
me: And I'll believe whatever else is presented to me as fact] And I’ll be sworn ’tis true:
travellers ne’er did lie, Though fools at home condemn
them.
35 GONZALO: If in
Naples I should report this now, would
they believe me? If I should say I saw such
islanders,— For, certes [certain], these are people of the
island,— Who, though they are of monstrous
shape, yet, note,
40 Their manners are more
gentle-kind than of Our human generation you shall
find Many, nay, almost
any. [Who, though .
. . any: Who, though they look like monsters, are far more gentle
than almost any human being] PROSPERO [Aside]: Honest
lord, Thou hast said well; for some of
you there present
45 Are worse than devils. Honest . . .
devils: Honest Gonzalo, you have spoken the truth, for some of the
humans in your company are worse than devils.] ALONSO: I cannot too much
muse, Such shapes, such gesture, and
such sound, expressing,— Although they want the use of
tongue,—a kind Of excellent dumb
discourse.
50[I cannot too .
. . discourse: I'm amazed at what I am beholding: the shapes, the
gestures, the sounds. Although they do not speak as we do, they
communicate in a silent, eloquent way.] PROSPERO [Aside]: Praise in departing. [I praise you as
you depart.] FRANCISCO: They vanish’d
strangely. SEBASTIAN: No matter,
since They have left their viands [food] behind; for we have
stomachs.— Will ’t please you to taste of
what is here?
55 ALONSO: Not
I. GONZALO: Faith, sir, you
need not fear. When we were boys, Who would believe that there were
mountaineers Dew-lapp’d like bulls, whose
throats had hanging at them [Dew-lapped:
Dewlapped, having loose skin hanging from the neck] Wallets of flesh? or that there
were such men
60 Whose heads stood in their
breasts? which now we find [Whose . . .
breasts: Allusion to accounts in The Discovery of
Guiana
(1596), by Sir Walter Raleigh. Guiana is in northeast South
America; it includes regions in Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, French
Guiana, and Suriname. In The Discovery of Guiana, Raleigh wrote
about his explorations in Guiana, claim there was a race of people
there with eyes in their shoulders and mouths in their chests.] Each putter-out of five for one
will bring us Good warrant of.

[putter-out . . . one: Of this term,
G.B. Harrison says, "In Shakespeare's time, voyages to distant
and strange ports were so risky that the traveler sometimes left
a sum of money with a merchant at home on condition that he
should receive five times the amount if he returned . . . "
(footnote on page 1492 of Shakespeare:
The Complete Works, published by Harcourt in New York
in 1952).][warrant: Proof; guarantee]

ALONSO: I will stand to and
feed, Although my last; no matter, since I
feel
65 The best is past.—Brother, my
lord the duke, Stand to and do as
we. [Although this
. . . as we: Although this my last meal, it doesn't matter; for
the best of my life is over. My brother, Duke Prospero, please
join us.] Thunder and lightning. Enter
ARIEL like a harpy; claps his wings upon the table; and, with a
quaint device, the banquet vanishes.[harpy: In
Greek mythology, a woman with the wings, talons, and tail feathers
of a bird.]

ARIEL: You are three men of
sin, whom Destiny— That hath to instrument this
lower world
70 And what is in ’t,—the
never-surfeited sea Hath caused to belch up you; and
on this island Where man doth not inhabit; you
’mongst men Being most unfit to live. I have
made you mad; [Seeing ALONSO:, SEBASTIAN:, &c., draw
their swords. [Destiny . . .
made you mad: Destiny, which determines the fortunes of the those
in this lower world, has caused the sea to belch you up onto this
island. No men inhabit this place, since you are so corrupt you
are unfit to live anywhere. I had made you mad.] And even with such-like valour
men hang and drown
75 Their proper selves. You fools! I
and my fellows [And even
. . . selves: In such a state of madness, even men of valor hang
or drown themselves.] Are ministers of fate: the
elements Of whom your swords are temper’d,
may as well Wound the loud winds, or with
bemock’d-at stabs Kill the still-closing waters, as
diminish
80 One dowle that’s in my plume; my
fellow-ministers Are like invulnerable. If you
could hurt, [the elements .
. . invulnerable: Your swords, no matter what elements go into
their making, would have more success stabbing at wind or water
than they would trying damage a single feather on my wings. Those
who accompany me are also invulnerable to your sword stabs and
lunges.] Your swords are now too massy for
your strengths [too heavy for you to lift]. And will not be uplifted. But,
remember,— For that’s my business to
you,—that you three
85 From Milan did supplant [overthrow] good Prospero; Expos’d unto the sea, which hath
requit it [which has paid you back for your wrongdoing], Him and his innocent child: for
which foul deed The powers, delaying, not
forgetting, have Incens’d the seas and shores,
yea, all the creatures,
90 Against your peace. Thee of thy
son, Alonso, They have bereft [taken away]; and do pronounce, by me, Lingering perdition,—worse than
any death Can be at once,—shall step by
step attend You and your ways; whose wraths
to guard you from—
95 Which here in this most desolate
isle, else falls Upon your heads,—is nothing but
heart-sorrow And a clear life
ensuing. [Thee of thy .
. . your ways: The higher powers have taken your son from you. And
they have pronounced that, through me, you should experience a
hellish existence worse than death. I shall follow you step by
step to monitor you and your actions. The only way you can avoid
the wrath of the higher powers on this desolate island is to
repent for your sins and resolve to live uprightly henceforward.] He vanishes in thunder: then, to
soft music, enter the Shapes again, and dance with mocks and mows
[frowns], and carry out the table. PROSPERO: [Aside.] Bravely [wondrously;
perfectly] the figure of
this harpy hast thou
100 Perform’d, my Ariel; a grace it
had, devouring: Of my instruction hast thou
nothing bated [lessened; diminished] In what thou hadst to say: so,
with good life And observation strange, my
meaner ministers Their several kinds have done. My
high charms work,
105 And these mine enemies are all
knit up In their distractions: they now
are in my power; [so, with . . .
power: So did the different kinds of my lesser spirits, putting
vigor and strange looks into their excellent performance. My magic
has worked, and my enemies are all thinking about their unnerving
experiences. They are in my power.] And in these fits I leave them,
while I visit Young Ferdinand,—whom they
suppose is drown’d,— And his and mine lov’d
darling. [Exit above.
110 GONZALO: I’ the name of
something holy, sir, why stand you In this strange
stare? ALONSO: O, it is monstrous!
monstrous! Methought the billows [billowing waves] spoke and told me of
it; The winds did sing it to me; and
the thunder,
115 That deep and dreadful
organ-pipe, pronounc’d The name of Prosper [Prospero]: it did bass my trespass [it deeply spoke of
my wrongdoing against him].
Therefore my son i’ th’ ooze is
bedded; and I’ll seek him deeper than e’er
plummet sounded, And with him there lie
mudded. [Exit.
120[Therefore . .
. mudded: Therefore, my son is lying dead at the bottom of the
sea, deeper than any seaman ever measured, and I will soon join
him.] SEBASTIAN: But one fiend at a
time, I’ll fight their legions
o’er. ANTONIO: I’ll be thy
second. [Exeunt SEBASTIAN: and ANTONIO: GONZALO: All three of them
are desperate; their great guilt, Like poison given to work a great
time after,
125 Now ’gins to bite the spirits.—I
do beseech you That are of suppler joints,
follow them swiftly And hinder them from what this
ecstasy May now provoke them
to. ADRIAN: Follow, I pray you.
[Exeunt.
130

Act 4,
Scene 1

Before Prospero's cell. Enter PROSPERO, FERDINAND, and
MIRANDA. PROSPERO: If I have too
austerely punish’d you, Your compensation makes amends;
for I Have given you here a third of
mine own life,
5 Or that for which I live; whom
once again I tender to thy hand: all thy
vexations Were but my trials of thy love,
and thou Hast strangely stood the test:
here, afore Heaven, I ratify this my rich gift. O
Ferdinand!
10 Do not smile at me that I boast
her off [brag about her],
For thou shalt find she will
outstrip all praise, And make it halt behind
her. FERDINAND: I do believe
it Against an
oracle.
15[I do . . .
oracle: I would believe what you say even if a great seer or
prophet told me the contrary.] PROSPERO: Then, as my gift
and thine own acquisition Worthily purchas’d, take my
daughter: but If thou dost break her virgin
knot before All sanctimonious ceremonies
may With full and holy rite be
minister’d,
20 No sweet aspersion shall the
heavens let fall To make this contract grow; but
barren hate, Sour-ey’d disdain and discord
shall bestrew The union of your bed with weeds
so loathly That you shall hate it both:
therefore take heed,
25 As Hymen’s lamps shall light you.
[Then, as my .
. . light you: Then take Miranda as a gift worthily earned. But if
you steal her virginity before you are married in holy rites, the
heavens will frown on your union. Hatred, disdain, and discord
shall befoul your marriage bed. So take heed. And be aware that
Hymen, the god of marriage, will be watching you.] FERDINAND: As I
hope For quiet days, fair issue [fair children] and long life, With such love as ’tis now, the
murkiest den, The most opportune place, the
strong’st suggestion
30 Our worser genius can, shall
never melt Mine honour into lust, to take
away The edge of that day’s
celebration When I shall think, or Phoebus’
steeds are founder’d, Or Night kept chain’d
below.
35[the murkiest .
. . below: Nothing can make me violate her virginity before
marriage. Murky dens and other opportune places may tempt me to
seduce Miranda, but I won't give in to lust. Instead, I'll wait
for the day of our wedding celebration. If the sun god, Phoebus
Apollo, seems to drive his golden chariot across the sky too
slowly on that day and if Night is kept in chains, I'll still wait
for the sun to go down and darkness to overspread the earth before
I'll go to my marriage bed. (In Greek mythology, Phoebus Apollo
was the sun god. Each day, he drove his horse-drawn golden
chariot, the sun, across the sky.] PROSPERO: Fairly
spoke: Sit then, and talk with her, she
is thine own. What, Ariel! my industrious
servant Ariel! Enter ARIEL. ARIEL: What would my potent
master? [What do you wish, my potent master?] here I am.
40 PROSPERO: Thou and thy
meaner fellows your last service Did worthily perform; and I must
use you In such another trick. Go bring
the rabble [Alonso and his friends], O’er whom I give thee power, here
to this place: Incite them to quick motion [incite them to
action]; for I
must
45 Bestow upon the eyes of this
young couple Some vanity [show; display] of mine art [magic]: it is my promise,
And they expect it from
me. ARIEL:
Presently? PROSPERO: Ay, with a
twink.
50 ARIEL: Before you can say,
‘Come,’ and ‘Go,’ And breathe twice; and cry, ‘so,
so,’ Each one, tripping on his
toe, Will be here with mop and
mow. [Before you . .
. mow: I'll bring them to you in an instANTONIO:] Do you love me, master?
no?
55 PROSPERO: Dearly [I love you dearly] my delicate Ariel. Do not
approach Till thou dost hear me
call. ARIEL: Well, I conceive [understand]. [Exit. PROSPERO to FERDINAND:
Look, thou be true; do not give dalliance Too much the rein: the strongest
oaths are straw
60 To the fire i’ the blood: be more
abstemious, Or else good night your
vow! [Look, thou . .
. your vow: Now look. I expect you to be true to your word. Don't
give your strong physical feelings for my daughter too much rein.
Your fiery passion could easily burn the straw of your promises.
So control your passions and be celibate until the right time. If
you fail to do as I say, good-bye.] FERDINAND: I warrant you,
sir; The white-cold virgin snow upon
my heart Abates the ardour of my
liver.
65[The white . .
. liver: The desire to preserve the snow-white virginity of your
daughter overcomes the heat of my passion.] PROSPERO:
Well.— Now come, my Ariel! bring a
corollary [bring one of your attendants], Rather than want a spirit:
appear, and pertly. No tongue! all eyes! be
silent. [Don't speak. Just watch and be quiet.] [Soft music. A masque [An entertainment]. Enter IRIS.
70

In the
following passage (lines 71-86), the messenger goddess Iris
addresses the goddess of agriculture, Ceres, asking her to leave
her domain to spend time on Prospero's island to help entertain
the queen of the gods, Juno.

IRIS: Ceres, most bounteous
lady, thy rich leas [meadows]

[Iris: In classical ancient
mythology, the messenger goddess and goddess of the rainbow][Ceres: In classical ancient
mythology, the goddess of agriculture. Her Greek name was
Demeter.]

Of wheat, rye, barley, vetches [plants of the pea
family], oats, and
peas; Thy turfy mountains, where live
nibbling sheep, And flat meads thatch’d with
stover [dries leaves and stalks of crops, used as fodder], them to keep; Thy banks with pioned [having many
flowers] and twilled [having interwoven
plants]
brims,
75 Which spongy April at thy hest [request] betrims, To make cold nymphs chaste
crowns; and thy broom [shrub with yellow flowers] groves, Whose shadow the dismissed [rejected] bachelor loves, Being lass-lorn [without a lass;
without a girlfriend];
thy pole-clipt vineyard; And thy sea-marge [seacoast], sterile and
rocky-hard,
80 Where thou thyself dost air [bask]: the queen o’ the
sky, [queen of the
sky: The queen of the gods in ancient mythology. Her Greek name
was Hera; her Roman name was Juno. Shakespeare uses the Roman
name.] Whose watery arch [rainbow] and messenger am I,
Bids thee leave [asks you to leave] these; and with her sovereign
grace, Here on this grass-plot, in this
very place, To come and sport; her peacocks
fly amain [fly speedily]:
85 Approach, rich Ceres, her to
entertain [to entertain her].
Enter CERES. CERES: Hail, many-colour’d
messenger, that ne’er Dost disobey the wife of Jupiter
[king of
the gods];
Who with thy saffron wings upon
my flowers
90 Diffusest honey-drops, refreshing
showers: And with each end of thy blue bow
dost crown My bosky acres, and my unshrubb’d
down, Rich scarf to my proud earth; why
hath thy queen Summon’d me hither, to this
short-grass’d green?
95[Who with . . .
green: With your saffron wings, Iris, you release honey and
refreshing rain showers on my flowers. With each end of your
rainbow, you crown my thicketed lands and my soft, unshrubbed
plains. Why have you summoned me to this place, to this
short-grassed green?] IRIS: A contract of true
love to celebrate, And some donation freely to
estate [bestow] On the bless’d
lovers. CERES: Tell me, heavenly
bow, If Venus [goddess of love;
Greek name, Aphrodite] or
her son [Cupid, god of love; Greek name, Eros], as thou dost know,
100 Do now attend the queen [Juno]? since they did
plot The means that dusky Dis [Pluto (Hades), god
of the Underworld],
my daughter got, Her and her blind boy’s scandal’d
company I have
forsworn. IRIS: Of her
society
105 Be not afraid; I met her
deity Cutting the clouds towards Paphos
[Cyprus
town and worship center for Venus] and her son Dove-drawn with her. Here thought
they to have done Some wanton charm upon this man
and maid, Whose vows are, that no bed-rite
shall be paid
110 Till Hymen’s [Hymen: god of
marriage] torch be
lighted; but in vain: Mars’s hot minion is return’d
again; [Mars's . . .
again: Mars's lover, Venus, has returned again. Mars (Greek name,
Ares) was the god of war.] Her waspish-headed son [Cupid] has broke his
arrows, Swears he will shoot no more, but
play with sparrows, And be a boy right
out.
115 CERES: Highest queen of
state, Great Juno comes; I know her by
her gait. Enter JUNO. JUNO: How does my bounteous
sister? [Ceres was Juno's sister.] Go with me To bless this twain [Ferdinand and
Miranda], that they may
prosperous be,
120 And honour’d in their issue [children].

SONG.

JUNO:

Honour, riches, marriage-blessing,
Long continuance, and increasing,
Hourly joys be still upon you!
Juno sings her blessings on you.

CERES:

Earth’s increase, foison [harvest]
plenty,
Barns and garners [granaries]
never empty:
Vines, with clust’ring bunches [of
grapes] growing;
Plants with goodly burden bowing;
Spring come to you at the farthest
In the very end of harvest![Spring . . . May spring come to
you immediately after the autumn harvest!]
Scarcity and want shall shun you;
Ceres’ blessing so is on you.

FERDINAND: This is a most
majestic vision, and Harmonious charmingly: May I be
bold
125 To think these
spirits? PROSPERO: Spirits, which by
mine art I have from their confines call’d
to enact My present
fancies. FERDINAND: Let me live here
ever:
130 So rare a wonder’d father and a
wise, Makes this place Paradise.
[JUNO and CERES whisper, and send IRIS an
employment. PROSPERO: Sweet, now,
silence! Juno and Ceres whisper
seriously, There’s something else to do:
hush, and be mute,
135 Or else our spell is
marr’d. IRIS: You nymphs, call’d
Naiades, of the winding brooks, [Naiades:
Plural of naiad (pronounced NAY id or NY id). In Greek
mythology, a naiad was a beautiful maiden, or nymph, inhabiting
waterways and forests.] With your sedg’d crowns [sedge: plant
resembling grass], and
ever-harmless looks, Leave your crisp channels, and on
this green land Answer your summons: Juno does
command.
140 Come, temperate nymphs, and help
to celebrate A contract of true love: be not
too late. Enter certain nymphs. You sun-burn’d sicklemen [farm laborers
wielding sickles], of
August weary, Come hither from the furrow, and
be merry:
145 Make holiday: your rye-straw hats
put on, And these fresh nymphs encounter
every one In country
footing. [And these . .
. footing: And dance with these beautiful maidens] Enter certain reapers [field hands;
farmers], properly
habited [dressed]: they
join with the nymphs in a graceful dance; towards the end whereof
PROSPERO starts suddenly, and speaks; after which, to a strange,
hollow, and confused noise, they heavily vanish. PROSPERO: [Aside.] I had forgot that foul
conspiracy
150 Of the beast Caliban, and his
confederates Against my life: the minute of
their plot Is almost come.—[To the
spirits.] Well done! avoid [stop performing]; no more! FERDINAND: This is strange:
your father’s in some passion That works him
strongly.
155 MIRANDA: Never till this
day Saw I him touch’d with anger so
distemper’d. PROSPERO: You do look, my
son, in a mov’d sort [in a worried way] As if you were dismay’d: be
cheerful, sir: Our revels now are ended. These
our actors,
160 As I foretold you, were all
spirits and Are melted into air, into thin
air: And, like the baseless fabric of
this vision, The cloud-capp’d towers, the
gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great
globe itself,
165 Yea, all which it inherit, shall
dissolve And, like this insubstantial
pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are
such stuff [And, like . .
. rack behind: Like this dreamlike vision, towers that soar into
the clouds, gorgeous palaces, solemn temples, and the earth itself
will all eventually disappear, leaving nothing behind.] As dreams are made on, and our
little life Is rounded with a sleep.—Sir, I
am vex’d:
170 Bear with my weakness; my old
brain is troubled. Be not disturb’d with my
infirmity. If you be pleas’d, retire into my
cell And there repose: a turn or two
I’ll walk, To still my beating
mind.
175 FERDINAND and MIRANDA: We
wish your peace. [Exeunt. PROSPERO: Come with a
thought!—[To them.] I thank thee: Ariel, come! [Ariel, come to me
at the speed of thought!] Enter ARIEL. ARIEL: Thy thoughts I
cleave to. What’s thy pleasure? PROSPERO:
Spirit,
180 We must prepare to meet with
Caliban. ARIEL: Ay, my commander;
when I presented Ceres, I thought to have told thee of
it; but I fear’d Lest I might anger
thee. PROSPERO: Say again, where
didst thou leave these varlets [villains]?
185 ARIEL: I told you, sir,
they were red-hot with drinking; So full of valour that they smote
[struck] the air For breathing in their faces;
beat the ground For kissing of their feet; yet
always bending Towards their project. Then I
beat my tabor;
190[yet always . .
. tabor: Yet they never forgot their project to kill you. Then I
beat my drum.] At which, like unback’d [riderless; never
saddled] colts, they
prick’d their ears, Advanc’d their eyelids, lifted up
their noses As they smelt music: so I charm’d
their ears That, calf-like, they my lowing
follow’d through Tooth’d briers, sharp furzes,
pricking goss and thorns,
195 Which enter’d their frail shins:
at last I left them I’ the filthy-mantled pool beyond
your cell, There dancing up to the chins,
that the foul lake O’erstunk their
feet. [so I charm'd .
. . their feet: So I put a spell on their ears, which made them
follow--like calves--the mooing sound I made. I led them through a
patch of plants with briers, sharp spines, and thorns. These
prickly plants scratched their frail shins. Afterward, I left them
standing in the pool beyond your cell. Its filthy scum left a
horrible smell on their feet, and they reacted by jumping and
dancing around.] PROSPERO: This was well
done, my bird.
200 Thy shape invisible retain thou
still: The trumpery in my house, go
bring it hither, For stale to catch these
thieves. [Thy shape . .
. thieves: Remain invisible. Then fetch the gawdy clothes in my
house. I'll use them to attract these thieves.] ARIEL: I go, I go.
[Exit. PROSPERO: A devil, a born
devil, on whose nature
205 Nurture can never stick; on whom
my pains, Humanely taken, are all lost,
quite lost; And as with age his body uglier
grows, So his mind cankers. I will
plague them all, [A devil . . .
them all: That Caliban is a born devil who will never change. All
my pains to train and educate him are lost. As his body grows
uglier with age, his mind grows madder and madder. I will torment
all of them.] Even to roaring. [Re-enter
ARIEL, loaden [loaded down] with glistering [bright-colored] apparel, &c.
210 Come, hang them on this line [lime tree]. PROSPERO and ARIEL remain
invisible. Enter CALIBAN, STEPHANO, and TRINCULO, all wet. CALIBAN: Pray you, tread
softly, that the blind mole may not Hear a foot fall: we now are near
his cell. STEPHANO: Monster, your
fairy, which you say is a harmless fairy, has done little better
than played the Jack with [play tricks on] us.
215 TRINCULO: Monster, I do
smell all [smell like]
horse-piss; at which my nose is in great
indignation. STEPHANO: So is mine.—Do
you hear, monster? If I should take a displeasure against you,
look you,— TRINCULO: Thou wert but a
lost monster. CALIBAN: Good my lord, give
me thy favour still: Be patient, for the prize I’ll
bring thee to
220 Shall hoodwink this mischance [make the smell
seem like perfume]:
therefore speak softly; All’s hush’d as midnight
yet. TRINCULO: Ay, but to lose
our bottles in the pool,— STEPHANO: There is not only
disgrace and dishonour in that, monster, but an infinite
loss. TRINCULO: That’s more to me
than my wetting [losing that bottle was worse than getting
wet]: yet this is your
harmless fairy, monster.
225 STEPHANO: I will fetch off
my bottle, though I be o’er ears [in deep water] for my labour. CALIBAN: Prithee [please], my king, be quiet. Seest thou
here, This is the mouth o’ the cell: no
noise, and enter. Do that good mischief, which may
make this island Thine own for ever, and I, thy
Caliban,
230 For aye thy foot-licker.[I, thy . . .
foot-licker: I, Caliban, your lowly servANTONIO:] STEPHANO: Give me thy hand:
I do begin to have bloody thoughts. TRINCULO: O king Stephano!
O peer [companion; friend]! O worthy Stephano! look, what a wardrobe here is for
thee! CALIBAN: Let it alone, thou
fool; it is but trash. TRINCULO: O, ho, monster!
we know what belongs to a frippery [we know the
difference between fine clothes and gawdy ones].—O king Stephano!
235 STEPHANO: Put off that
gown, Trinculo; by this hand, I’ll have that
gown. TRINCULO: Thy grace shall
have it. CALIBAN: The dropsy [affliction
characterized by accumulation of fluid in body tissues or
cavities] drown this
fool! what do you mean To dote thus on such luggage?
Let’s along, And do the murder first: if he
awake,
240 From toe to crown he’ll fill our
skins with pinches; Make us strange stuff [do strange things
to us; turn us into strange creatures]. STEPHANO: Be you quiet,
monster.—Mistress line [Mistress lime tree], is not this my jerkin [close-fitting,
sleeveless jacket]? Now
is the jerkin under the line: now, jerkin, you are like to lose your hair and prove a
bald jerkin. [Now is the . .
. bald jerkin: This time, line refers to the
equator, according to G. B. Harrison. The equator is the imaginary
circle that separates northern and southern hemispheres. Harrison
says disease that caused the hair to fall out was commonplace
among persons who traveled below the equator (footnote on page
1497 of Shakespeare: The Complete Works, published by
Harcourt in New York in 1952).] TRINCULO: Do, do [do take the
jerkin]: we steal by line
and level, an ’t like your grace. [your grace, we
steal things here with straightforward honesty that is always on
the level, like a brick laid exactly flat]. STEPHANO: I thank thee for
that jest; here’s a garment for ’t: wit [clever
conversation] shall not
go unrewarded while I am king of this country: ‘Steal by line and
level,’ is an excellent pass of pate [pun; comment]; there’s another garment for
’t.
245 TRINCULO: Monster, come,
put some lime upon your fingers, and away with the rest [put some sticky
birdlime on your fingers so that you won't drop any of the other
things that you carry away]. CALIBAN: I will have none
on ’t: we shall lose our time [opportunity], And all be turn’d to barnacles,
or to apes With foreheads villanous [villainous] low. STEPHANO: Monster, lay-to
your fingers: help to bear this away where my hogshead of wine is,
or I’ll turn you out of my kingdom. Go to; carry
this.
250 TRINCULO: And
this. STEPHANO: Ay, and
this. A noise of hunters heard. Enter
divers [various]
spirits, in shape of hounds, and hunt them about [and are sniffing
around, as if hunting prey]; PROSPERO and ARIEL setting them on. PROSPERO: Hey, Mountain,
hey! ARIEL: Silver! there it
goes, Silver!
255PROSPERO: Fury, Fury! there,
Tyrant, there! hark, hark! [CAL., STEPHANO:, and TRIN. are
driven out. Go, charge my goblins that they
grind their joints With dry convulsions; shorten up
their sinews With aged cramps, and more
pinch-spotted make them Than pard [than a leopard], or cat o’
mountain.
260[charge . . .
sinews: Tell my goblins to dry up their joints so that their bones
grind. Give them muscle cramps and pinch them enough to give them
spots all over.] ARIEL: Hark! they
roar. PROSPERO: Let them be
hunted soundly. At this hour Lie at my mercy all mine
enemies: Shortly shall all my labours end,
and thou Shalt have the air at freedom:
for a little [for a little while longer],
265 Follow, and do me service.
[Exeunt.[Exeunt:
Everyone leaves the stage.]

Act 5,
Scene 1

Before the cell of Prospero. Enter PROSPERO in his magic
robes; and ARIEL. PROSPERO: Now does my
project gather to a head: My charms crack not [my magic is
working]; my spirits
obey, and time Goes upright with his carriage.
How’s the day?
5[time . . .
day: Everything is happening on schedule. What time is it?] ARIEL: On the sixth hour;
at which time, my lord, You said our work should
cease. PROSPERO: I did say
so, When first I rais’d the tempest.
Say, my spirit, How fares the king and’s [and his] followers?
10 ARIEL: Confin’d
together In the same fashion as you gave
in charge; Just as you left them: all
prisoners, sir, In the line-grove [lime-tree grove] which weather-fends your cell [which protects
your cell against the weather]; They cannot budge till your
release. The king,
15 His brother, and yours, abide all
three distracted, And the remainder mourning over
them, Brimful of sorrow and dismay; but
chiefly Him, that you term’d, sir, ‘The
good old lord Gonzalo:’ His tears run down his beard,
like winter’s drops
20 From eaves of reeds; your charm
so strongly works them, That if you now beheld them, your
affections Would become
tender. PROSPERO: Dost thou think
so, spirit? ARIEL: Mine would, sir,
were I human.
25 PROSPERO: And mine
shall. Hast thou, which art but air, a
touch, a feeling Of their afflictions, and shall
not myself, One of their kind, that relish
all as sharply, Passion as they, be kindlier
mov’d than thou art?
30 Though with their high wrongs I
am struck to the quick, Yet with my nobler reason ’gainst
my fury Do I take part: the rarer action
is In virtue than in vengeance: they
being penitent, The sole drift of my purpose doth
extend
35 Not a frown further. Go, release
them, Ariel. [Though with .
. . them, Ariel: Though I am very angry about the wrongs they did
me, my reason rules my anger. It is better to show mercy than to
seek vengeance. Since they appear to be sorry for what they did, I
don't want to take any more action against them. So go release
them, Ariel.] My charms I’ll break, their
senses I’ll restore, And they shall be
themselves. ARIEL: I’ll fetch them,
sir. [Exit. PROSPERO: Ye elves of
hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves;
40 And ye, that on the sands with
printless foot Do chase the ebbing Neptune and
do fly him When he comes back; you demi-puppets,
that Neptune was the
name of the god of the sea in Roman mythology. His Greek name was
Poseidon.] By moonshine do the green sour
ringlets make Whereof the ewe not bites; and
you, whose pastime
45 Is to make midnight mushrooms;
that rejoice To hear the solemn curfew; by
whose aid,— Weak masters though ye be—I have
bedimm’d The noontide sun, call’d forth
the mutinous winds, And ’twixt the green sea and the
azur’d vault
50 Set roaring war: to the
dread-rattling thunder Have I given fire and rifted
Jove’s stout oak With his own bolt: the
strong-bas’d promontory Have I made shake; and by the
spurs pluck’d up The pine and cedar: graves at my
command
55 Have wak’d their sleepers, op’d,
and let them forth By my so potent art. But this
rough magic I here abjure; and, when I have
requir’d Some heavenly music,—which even
now I do,— To work mine end upon their
senses that
60 This airy charm is for, I’ll
break my staff, Bury it certain fathoms in the
earth, And, deeper than did ever plummet
sound, I’ll drown my book. [Solemn
music. [lines 40-64:
All of you elves have helped me perform my magic--first, the elves
who chase the outgoing sea tide without making footprints in the
sand and who run away when the tide returns; next, you tiny
creatures smaller than puppets that make circles in the grass,
circles that grazing animals stay away from. Then, those who cause
mushrooms to grow at midnight, after the curfew has sounded. With
your assistance, I have dimmed the noon sun, summoned wild winds,
and started a roaring war between the green sea and the blue sky.
To the booming thunder, I have given the power of fiery lightning
that struck and split the stout oak tree of the king of the gods,
Jupiter. I shook the cliff and uprooted pine and cedar trees. At
my command, the sleepers in graves have awakened. But the magic I
used to cause these events I now renounce. And, when the time
comes that I require some heavenly music--which even now I do--to
work my magic upon my visitors, I will break my magic staff and
bury it deep in the earth. Moreover, deep in the sea I'll drown my
book of magic. Re-enter ARIEL: after him,
ALONSO, with a frantic gesture, attended by GONZALO; SEBASTIAN and
ANTONIO in like manner, attended by ADRIAN and FRANCISCO: they all
enter the circle which PROSPERO had made, and there stand charmed;
which PROSPERO observing, speaks.
65

A solemn air and the best
comforter To an unsettled fancy, cure thy
brains, Now useless, boil’d within thy
skull! There stand, For you are
spell-stopp’d. [May this
solemn music, the best comforter of an unsettled mind, cure the
fever boiling in your brains. Remain standing there, spellbound,
for a time.] Holy Gonzalo, honourable
man,
70 Mine eyes, even sociable to the
show of thine, Fall fellowly drops. The charm
dissolves apace; [Mine eyes . .
. apace: My eyes, when they behold your eyes, cry tears in
sympathy for you. The spell I have been working will subside in a
moment.] And as the morning steals upon
the night, Melting the darkness, so their
rising senses Begin to chase the ignorant fumes
that mantle
75 Their clearer reason.—O good
Gonzalo! [And as . . .
reason (Prospero speaks to himself): As the early morning
progresses, day will overcome night and these men will begin to
come to their senses.] My true preserver, and a loyal
sir To him thou follow’st, I will pay
thy graces [will reward you] Home, both in word and deed.—Most
cruelly Didst thou, Alonso, use me and my
daughter:
80 Thy brother was a furtherer in
the act;— Thou’rt pinch’d for ’t now,
Sebastian.—Flesh and blood, You, brother mine, that
entertain’d ambition, Expell’d remorse and nature; who,
with Sebastian,— Whose inward pinches therefore
are most strong,—
85 Would here have kill’d your king;
I do forgive thee, Unnatural though thou art!—Their
understanding Begins to swell, and the
approaching tide Will shortly fill the reasonable
shores That now lie foul and muddy. Not
one of them
90[Their
understand . . . muddy: Their understanding of their wrongs begins
to rise, like an ocean wave, and the approaching tide will clear
their minds of the foul and muddy thinking that once occupied
them.] That yet looks on me, or would
know me.—Ariel, Fetch me the hat and rapier [sword] in my cell:— [Exit
ARIEL. I will discase me, and myself
present, As I was sometime Milan.—Quickly,
spirit; [I will . . .
Milan: I will change clothes and present myself as the Duke of
Milan.] Thou shalt ere [before] long be free.
95 ARIEL re-enters, singing, and
helps to attire PROSPERO. ARIEL:

Where the bee
sucks, there suck I
In a cowslip’s bell I lie;
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the bat’s back I do fly
After summer merrily:
Merrily, merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.

PROSPERO: Why, that’s my
dainty Ariel! I shall miss thee; But yet thou shalt have
freedom;—so, so, so.— To the king’s ship, invisible as
thou art:
100 There shalt thou find the
mariners asleep Under the hatches; the master and
the boat-swain Being awake, enforce them to this
place, [enforce . . .
place: Bring the boat-swain and the master to me.] And presently, I
prithee. ARIEL: I drink the air
before me, and return
105 Or e’er your pulse twice
beat. [Exit. Or . . . beat:
Before your heart beats twice.] GONZALO: All torment,
trouble, wonder, and amazement Inhabits here: some heavenly
power guide us Out of this fearful
country! PROSPERO: Behold, sir
king,
110 The wronged Duke of Milan,
Prospero. For more assurance that a living
prince Does now speak to thee, I embrace
thy body; And to thee and thy company I
bid A hearty
welcome.
115 ALONSO: Whe’r thou beest [whether you are] he or no, Or some enchanted trifle to abuse
me, As late I have been, I not know:
thy pulse Beats, as of flesh and blood;
and, since I saw thee, Th’ affliction of my mind amends
[eases], with which,
120 I fear, a madness held me: this
must crave,— An if this be at all—a most
strange story. Thy dukedom I resign, and do
entreat Thou pardon me my wrongs.—But how
should Prospero Be living, and be
here?
125 PROSPERO: First, noble
friend, Let me embrace thine age [embrace you]; whose honour
cannot Be measur’d, or
confin’d. GONZALO: Whether this
be, Or be not, I’ll not
swear.
130[Whether . . .
swear: Am I imagining this or is it really happening?] PROSPERO: You do yet
taste Some subtleties o’ the isle, that
will not let you Believe things certain.—Welcome!
my friends all:— [You do . . .
certain: You are still somewhat under the spell of this island and
find it difficult to accept what you see and hear.] [Aside
to SEBASTIAN and ANTONIO] But you, my brace of lords [my two lords], were I so minded,
I here could pluck his highness’
frown upon you,
135 And justify you traitors: at this
time I will tell no
tales. [I here . . .
tales: I could tell the king of your plot against him. However, at
this time, I will be silent about your traitorous activity.] SEBASTIAN: [Aside.] The devil speaks in
him. PROSPERO:
No. For you, most wicked sir, whom to
call brother
140 Would even infect my mouth, I do
forgive Thy rankest fault; all of them;
and require My dukedom of thee, which,
perforce, I know, Thou must
restore. ALONSO: If thou beest [if you are] Prospero,
145 Give us particulars of thy
preservation; [Give . . .
preservation: Tell us the details of how you saved yourself long
ago] How thou hast met us here, who
three hours since TIME 3 HOURS Were wrack’d upon this shore;
where I have lost,— How sharp the point of this
remembrance is!— My dear son
Ferdinand.
150 PROSPERO: I am woe [am so sorry] for ’t, sir.
ALONSO: Irreparable is the
loss, and patience Says it is past her
cure. PROSPERO: I rather
think You have not sought her help; of
whose soft grace,
155 For the like loss I have her
sovereign aid, And rest myself
content. ALONSO: You the like loss! [What? You suffered
a loss like mine?] PROSPERO: As great to me,
as late; and, supportable To make the dear loss, have I
means much weaker
160 Than you may call to comfort you,
for I Have lost my
daughter. [As great . . . my daughter: To
me, a great loss--which occurred just recently. I have lost my
daughter. ALONSO: A
daughter? O heavens! that they were living
both in Naples, The king and queen there! that
they were, I wish
165 Myself were mudded in that oozy
bed Where my son lies. When did you
lose your daughter? [O . . . your
daughter lies: O heavens, I wish that they were living in Naples
as king and queen. If my wish could come true, I would willingly
take my son's place in his muddy grave at the bottom of the ocean.
When did you lose your daughter?] PROSPERO: In this last tempest [I lost her in the
storm]. I perceive, these
lords At this encounter do so much
admire [at this encounter seem so amazed] That they devour their reason,
and scarce think
170 Their eyes do offices of truth, their words Are natural breath: but,
howsoe’er you have Been justled from your senses,
know for certain That I am Prospero and that very
duke Which was thrust forth of Milan;
who most strangely
175Upon this shore, where you were
wrack’d, was landed, To be the lord on ’t. No more yet
of this; [That they
devour . . . yet of this: That they lose their reason and can
hardly believe what they see and that what they breathe is
ordinary air. Whatever the case, you should know that I am indeed
Prospero. I was forced out of my dukedom, Milan, and most
strangely cast ashore on this island, where you were shipwrecked.
I became lord of the island. But no more of this story now.] For ’tis a chronicle of day by
day, Not a relation [story] for a breakfast nor
Befitting this first meeting.
Welcome, sir;
180 This cell’s my court [ruler's place of
residence; place where a ruler's staff and friends meet]: here have I few
attendants And subjects none abroad: pray
you, look in. My dukedom since you have given
me again, I will requite you with as good a
thing; At least bring forth a wonder, to
content ye
185 As much as me my
dukedom. [My dukedom . .
. me my dukedom: Since you have returned my dukedom to me, I will
repay you with as good a thing. It will please you as much as my
dukedom pleases me.] The entrance of the cell opens,
and discovers FERDINAND and MIRANDA playing at chess. MIRANDA: Sweet lord, you
play me false. FERDINAND: No, my dearest
love, I would not for the
world.
190 MIRANDA: Yes, for a score
of kingdoms you should wrangle, And I would call it fair
play. ALONSO: If this
prove A vision of the island, one dear
son Shall I twice
lose.
195 SEBASTIAN: A most high
miracle! FERDINAND: Though the seas
threaten, they are merciful: I have curs’d them without
cause. [Kneels to ALONSO: ALONSO: Now, all the
blessings Of a glad father compass thee
about!
200 Arise, and say how thou cam’st
here. MIRANDA: O,
wonder! How many goodly creatures are
there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave
new world, That has such people in
’t!
205 PROSPERO: ’Tis new to
thee. ALONSO: What is this maid,
with whom thou wast at play? Your eld’st acquaintance cannot
be three hours: Is she the goddess that hath
sever’d us, And brought us thus
together?
210[Is she . . .
together: Is she the goddess that separated us after the
shipwreck, then brought us back together?] FERDINAND: Sir, she is
mortal; But by immortal Providence she’s
mine; I chose her when I could not ask
my father For his advice, nor thought I had
one. She Is daughter to this famous Duke
of Milan,
215 Of whom so often I have heard
renown, But never saw before; of whom I
have Receiv’d a second life; and
second father This lady makes him to
me. ALONSO: I am
hers:
220 But O! how oddly will it sound
that I Must ask my child
forgiveness! PROSPERO: There, sir,
stop: Let us not burden our
remembrances With a heaviness [sadness] that’s gone.
225 GONZALO: I have inly
wept, Or should have spoke ere [before] this. Look down, you
gods, And on this couple drop a blessed
crown; For it is you that have chalk’d
forth the way Which brought us
hither!
230 ALONSO: I say, Amen,
Gonzalo! GONZALO: Was Milan thrust
from Milan, that his issue Should become kings of Naples? O,
rejoice [Was Milan . .
. Naples: Was the Duke of Milan, Prospero, forced out of Milan so
that his children could be heirs to the throne of Naples?] Beyond a common joy, and set it
down With gold on lasting pillars. In
one voyage
235 Did Claribel her husband find at
Tunis, And Ferdinand, her brother, found
a wife Where he himself was lost;
Prospero [found] his
dukedom In a poor isle; and all of us [found] ourselves, When no man was his own [when no
man was in possession of himself.] 240 ALONSO: [To FERDINAND and
MIRANDA] Give me your hands: Let grief and sorrow still
embrace his heart That doth not wish you
joy! GONZALO: Be it so:
Amen! Re-enter ARIEL, with the master
and boatswain amazedly following.
245

O look, sir! look, sir! here are
more of us. I prophesied, if a gallows were
on land, This fellow could not drown.—Now,
blasphemy, That swear’st grace o’erboard,
not an oath on shore? Hast thou no mouth by land? What
is the news?
250[I prophesied .
. . news: On the ship, I predicted that this fellow (the
boatswain) would not drown but would eventually go to the gallows
on land. Now, you cursing blasphemer who threw acceptable
conversation and manners overboard, don't you have anything to say
on land? At least tell us the news.] BOATSWAIN: The best news is
that we have safely found Our king and company: the next,
our ship,— Which but three glasses since we
gave out split,— [Which . . .
split: Which but three hourglasses ago (three hours ago) we gave
up on because it broke up] Is tight and yare [maneuverable;
ready to sail] and bravely rigg’d as when
We first put out to
sea.
255 ARIEL: [Aside to PROSPERO] Sir, all this
service Have I done since I
went. PROSPERO: [Aside to
ARIEL] My tricksy spirit! ALONSO: These are not
natural events; they strengthen From strange to stranger.—Say,
how came you hither [here]?
260 BOATSWAIN: If I did think,
sir, I were well awake, I’d strive to tell you. We were
dead of sleep [were sleeping soundly], And,—how we know not,—all clapp’d
[confined] under hatches, Where, but even now, with strange
and several noises Of roaring, shrieking, howling,
jingling chains,
265 And more diversity of sounds, all
horrible, We were awak’d; straightway, at
liberty [free to do as we pleased]: Where we, in all her trim,
freshly beheld Our royal, good, and gallant
ship; our master Capering to eye her [dancing around
joyfully as he eyed her]:
on a trice [in an instant],
so please you,
270 Even in a dream [as in a dream], were we divided from them [we were separated
from the crew],
And were brought moping
hither. ARIEL: [Aside to PROSPERO] Was ’t well
done? PROSPERO: [Aside to
ARIEL] Bravely, my diligence! Thou shalt be
free. ALONSO: This is as strange
a maze as e’er men trod;
275 And there is in this business
more than nature Was ever conduct of: some
oracle Must rectify our
knowledge. [This is . . .
knowledge: These events are as strange a maze as any that men ever
walked through. There is something unnatural about what has been
going on. We need some wise man to tell uswhat all this means.] PROSPERO: Sir, my liege [sovereign; king], Do not infest your mind with
beating on
280 The strangeness of this business:
at pick’d leisure Which shall be shortly, single
I’ll resolve you,— Which to you shall seem probable,—of
every These happen’d accidents; till
when, be cheerful, And think of each thing well.—[Aside to ARIEL] Come hither,
spirit;
285[Do not infest.
. . thing well: Don't dwell on the strangeness of what's been
happening here. Soon, at your leisure, I will explain everything,
which will seem probable instead of improbable. Till that time, be
cheerful and optimistic.] Set Caliban and his companions
free; Untie the spell. [Exit
ARIEL.] How fares my gracious sir? There are yet missing of your
company Some few odd lads that you
remember not. Re-enter ARIEL, driving in
CALIBAN, STEPHANO, and TRINCULO, in their stolen
apparel.
290

STEPHANO: Every man shift
for all the rest, and let no man take care for himself, for all is
but fortune.—Coragio! bully-monster,
Coragio! [Every man . .
. Coragio: Every man should act on behalf of all of us instead of
looking out for his own selfish interests. Courage, good monster
courage!] TRINCULO: If these be true
spies [eyes] which I wear in my head, here’s a
goodly sight. CALIBAN: O Setebos! these
be brave spirits, indeed.

How fine my master is! I am
afraid He will chastise
me.
295 SEBASTIAN: Ha,
ha! What things are these, my lord
Antonio? Will money buy
them? ANTONIO: Very like; one of
them Is a plain fish, and, no doubt,
marketable.
300 PROSPERO: Mark but [take notice of] the badges of these men, my
lords, [badges:
Servants wore badges identifying their masters.] Then say, if they be true.—This
mis-shapen knave [Caliban],— His mother was a witch; and one
so strong That [she] could control the moon, make flows
and ebbs,[That . . .
ebbs: That she could control the moon and make the tides ebb and
flow] And deal in her command without
her power.
305 These three have robb’d me; and
this demi-devil,— For he’s a bastard one,—had
plotted with them To take my life: two of these
fellows you Must know and own; this thing of
darkness I Acknowledge
mine.
310[These three .
. . mine: The three of them robbed me and plotted to kill me. Two
of them (Antonio and Sebastian) you no doubt recognize as your
own. The third one--this creature of darkness--I acknowledge as
mine.]CALIBAN: I shall be
pinch’d to death ALONSO: Is not this
Stephano, my drunken butler? SEBASTIAN: He is drunk now:
where had he wine? ALONSO: And Trinculo is
reeling-ripe: where should they Find this grand liquor that hath
gilded them?
315 How cam’st thou in this
pickle? [How did you get so drunk?] TRINCULO: I have been in
such a pickle since I saw you last that, I fear me, will never out
of my bones: I shall not fear fly-blowing. [I have been .
. . fly-blowing: I have been so drunk since I last saw you that I
may never be sober again. With so much alcohol in my bones, at
least I won't have to worry about rotting away with flies laying
eggs in my mouth.] SEBASTIAN: Why, how now,
Stephano! STEPHANO: O! touch me not:
I am not Stephano, but a cramp. PROSPERO: You’d be king of
the isle, sirrah?
320 STEPHANO: I should have
been a sore one then. ALONSO: This is a strange
thing as e’er [ever] I look’d
on. [Pointing to CALIBAN. PROSPERO: He is as
disproportion’d in his manners As in his shape.—Go, sirrah, to
my cell; Take with you your companions: as
you look
325 To have my pardon, trim it
handsomely. [as you look .
. . handsomely: If you want my pardon, clean and decorate my cell
handsomely.] CALIBAN: Ay, that I will;
and I’ll be wise hereafter, And seek for grace. What a
thrice-double ass Was I, to take this drunkard for
a god, And worship this dull
fool!
330 PROSPERO: Go to;
away! [Be off with you.] ALONSO: Hence, and bestow
your luggage where you found it. [Hence . . . found it: Get going.
And put that clothing back where you found it.] SEBASTIAN: Or stole it,
rather. [Exeunt CALIBAN, STEPHANO, and
TRINCULO. PROSPERO: Sir, I invite
your highness and your train To my poor cell, where you shall
take your rest
335 For this one night; which—part of
it—I’ll waste With such discourse
[conversation] as, I not doubt, shall make it [the time] Go quick away [pass quickly]; the story of my
life And the particular accidents gone
by Since I came to this isle: and in
the morn
340 I’ll bring you to your ship, and
so to Naples, Where I have hope to see the
nuptial Of these our dear-beloved
solemniz’d; And thence retire me to my Milan,
where Every third thought shall be my
grave [be
about preparing for my eventual death].
345 ALONSO: I
long To hear the story of your life,
which must Take the ear strangely [be a strange story
indeed]. PROSPERO: I’ll deliver
all; And promise you calm seas,
auspicious gales
350 And sail so expeditious that
shall catch Your royal fleet far off.—[Aside to ARIEL.] My Ariel,
chick, That is thy charge: then to the
elements Be free, and fare thou
well!—Please you, draw near. [Exeunt.

EPILOGUE.

Spoken by PROSPERO. Now my charms are all o’erthrown, And what strength I have’s mine
own;Now that I have
renounced my magic, I must rely on my own strength.] Which is most faint: now, ’tis
true, I must be here confin’d by you, Or sent to Naples. Let me not,[I must . . .
not: I must be confined here on the island by you, the audience,
or sent to Naples. Let me not be confined.] Since I have my dukedom got And pardon’d the deceiver, dwell In this bare island by your
spell; But release me from my bands With the help of your good hands.[With . . .
hands: With your hearty applause] Gentle breath of yours my sails Must fill, or else my project
fails,[Gentle . . .
fails: The gentle breath of your cheers for what you have seen
must fill my sails; otherwise, my play fails.] Which was to please. Now I want [lack] Spirits to enforce, art to
enchant; And my ending is despair, Unless I be reliev’d by prayer, Which pierces so that it assaults Mercy itself and frees all
faults.[Now I want . .
. faults: Now that I don't have spirits to order around or magic
to cast spells, I'll probably end up in despair unless I am
supported by prayer. Prayer is so powerful that heaven itself
hears it and forgives all faults.] As you from crimes would pardon’d
be, Let your indulgence set me
free.
355